My Anime Romance l Nate Gray
by MemoryWriter
Summary: Dani is just the girl next door with Connect 3.When their moms tell Dani is set for an arranged marriage to Jason, Shane, or Nate, she has until her 16th birthday to choose. And unfortunatly for Nate and Dani, the word awkward would be an understatement.
1. Marry?

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

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* * *

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**_"There was once in the land of Feudal Era Japan, a priestess named Denami. During her teen years, she had fallen in love with her best friend, her village's prince, Noriko. Of course, the two were of different class. Noriko was of a high class, a prince. Denami was of lower class, a priestess. Although, this did not stop the two hearts from coming together. One day, Prince Noriko was set for an arranged marriage to a princess. Although gifted with beauty, the princess's heart was of greed. Jealous of the Noriko's and Denami's soon-to-blossom love, the princess poisoned the priestess. At her deathbed, she told Prince Noriko, that she was in love with him, and that one day in the future, they will be reunited in reincarnated lives. After the priestess's death, Prince Noriko's heart was shrouded in darkness and sorrow. He cursed arranged marriages, for it was the cause of his first and only love's death. Out of rage, the prince cursed the priestess's family to live under arranged marriages for the eldest daughters, for he trusted in Denami's words. One day, they would be reunited, reunited in an arranged marriage, the one thing that tore them away from eternal happiness..."_**

"The Prince then passed away from sadness," I finished, closing my book.

8 year old Aiden yawned. "Thanks for reading the story to me again, Dani." I smiled and tucked him in.

"No problem, buddy. I love reading this story. And it makes me happy to have an audience."

He smiled. "Is that a true story?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. It's a story passed down in my family, but I don't think it is. It's just a legend. Why do you ask?"

He yawned again. "I want to know if the prince and the priestess get back together."

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "I don't know, Aiden. It's just a story. Now, get some sleep. Knowing your brothers, you're in for a big day tomorrow."

Aiden laughed and I turned off the lights, closing the door.

"He finally went to sleep?" Nate asked, waiting outside the room in his pajamas, or in other words, his shirt and boxers.

I nodded, still holding my oh-so famous family story book. "Yup. This is why you shouldn't show Aiden those scary movies."

"Like I was supposed to know it was that scary."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. It's almost midnight. We should get some sleep too. It's finally summer and I actually have reasons to want to wake up early."

He nodded and went to his room. I walked downstairs, seeing my pillow and blanket on the couch. I slept over at the Gray household quite often.

My name is Danielle Collens, a 15-year old teenager. I am like some normal girl next door for the Grays, for my entire life. Yeah they're famous and have left to go on tour sometimes, but they're here now, for the whole summer. My mom doesn't mind me staying over here, since I've known Nate since I was like 3. That's how we're such good friends. Anyway, I'm kinda Japanese on my mom's side. Since then I've always been into watching anime, drawing anime, leaning Japanese, you know, getting into my heritage. But either way, I'm still a normal teenager with normal teenager problems.

"WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!" Shane shouted.

"AHH!" I shouted, falling off the couch.

Shane laughed nervously. "Hehe, sorry Dani. You ok?"

I rubbed my head and sat up, looking at him with one eye. "You try waking up like I do, then we'll talk."

"Well come on, eating breakfast now."

I nodded and stood up, my short black layered hair in a mess, but it was always like that. You know how some guys just plainly look good no matter how messed up their hair is? That's like me.

"Morning," I greeted, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey Dani," Jason greeted, "Would you mind waking Nate up? He's still asleep."

I nodded and walked up the stairs. I knocked on Nate's door and it slid open a little. I arched my eyebrow sleepily and walked in. I yawned and stretched my arms. Then I noticed Nate's bed empty and still un-made. I blinked lazily until I felt a hand cover my mouth.

"Gotcha," he said in victory.

I narrowed my eyes and flipped him. Yeah, weird for a girl to flip a guy like that. Hegroaned, his back on the floor. I keeled down, my head inches away from his face. "Nice try, Nate."

He laughed. "And I thought I'd finally get you this time."

I smirked. With me watching all kinds of anime, they taught me how to cope with losses, how to react to situations, when to defend myself. Then came when I started watching fighting shows. I always tried to act out all the fighting scenes and get stronger. Well, now that I'm older and wiser, I can actually do them. "Alright hot shot. Let's get downstairs. Everyone's waiting."

I held out my hand and helped him up. We walked down the stairs and saw Shane, Jason, Aiden, and our moms in the living room, rather than the kitchen.

"Uh," I started.

"I thought you said there was breakfast," Nate whispered.

I gave him a glare but that was stopped by my Mom. "Danielle, can you come down here?"

"Nate you too," Diane added, she being the guys' mom. Nate and I didn't hessitate to join the others who were sitting down, as if awaiting some kind of punishment.

"Are we in toruble?" Aiden asked.

Diane laughed. "No Aiden. No one's in trouble. We just..."

"We just need to talk," my mom finished.

"About what?" I spoke up, my head on Nate's shoulder. I was starting to feel sleepy again. But I mean, who wouldn't? It's early, I'm still in pj's, I'm on a suddenly cramped yet comfy couch, and my best friend is squished beside me, a perfect pillow.

"You," my mom said, gicing me a look.

"What'd you do?!" Jason asked, as if I just killed someone.

I threw a pillow on the floor at him. "I didn't do anything."

My mom laughed at my morning behavior. "It's just that, well, you know how your father left us back when you were little?"

I blinked, not really phased by the subject as my mom thought I would. "Yeah? What about him?"

"Well, it's not about _him_ really. It's about the marriage."

"You're getting back together?" I guessed out of the blue.

"No," Mom said.

"Then you're asking me about marrying another guy."

"Dani that's not it either-"

"So you're not marrying."

"I'm not marrying!"

"So why are we talking about marriage?"

My mom groaned at how I was acting and fell into her chair.

Diane sighed. "She's talking about _your_ marriage, dear."

At the end of the sentence I sat straight up, along with the others.

"Whoa, back up here," Shane said as if this was some joke that had to be replayed. "Dani's getting married?"

"Well she's supposed to," my mom resumed. "In my side of the family, the oldest daughter is always supposed to be set an arranged marriage."

"Whoa, just like in your story book!" Aiden said to me, as if this were a good thing.

"Hey, this isn't the medieval times, Mom. I'm not getting an arranged marriage to a total stranger."

"We know," my mom said. "Which is why I talked to Diane."

I looked to the Gray Mother. "About what exactly?"

Diane grinned nervously. "I know that a teenager like you wouldn't want to be set an arranged marriage. They'd only end up in misfortune, like your mother's."

My head snapped back towards my Mom. "You had an arranged marriage?"

"With your father. And that's pretty much why he left. And now you have to have an arranged marriage so we don't break our ancestor's tradition."

"To who?!" I asked, panicking in the inside.

"Again back to the subject that I talked to Diane about," Mom said, trying to avoid answering.

" To who?" I repeated.

Diane looked nervously at my mom. "Um, actually it's not really _my_ choice to pick who you're supposed to marry-"

"To who?!" all of us said for a third time.

"One of my sons," Diane finally sighed out.

All of the guys bulged their eyes out while my jaw dropped, only to be closed by Nate. "Say what?"

"Hey, you're having it waaay easier than me," my mom said. "You get to be married to one of your long time childhood friends."

"And this is a good thing for her?" Shane asked, only to be elbowed by Jason.

"At least you get to pick," my mom said again, starting to get tired from all this.

"Y-You can't be serious," Nate said. "Mom?"

Diane shrugged. "I have already signed an agreement with Dani's grandparents."

I looked back at my mom. "I got grandparents now?"

She laughed. "Grandparen_t_. One's dead."

I blinked. "... Yeah thanks for dropping the news on me so easily."

"Well?" my mom asked. "Who's it gonna be?"

I turned around and looked along the one couch we were all on. All the guys looked away, trying to pretend as if this conversation did _not_ just happen. How I wished it so. "Um, how long exactly do I have to choose?"

"Till you turn 16," my mom answered. "Then I'll have to finish up the last thing on your grandma's scroll and you're engaged."

"Don't you turn 16 in two months?" Jason asked me.

I groaned and sank in my seat. "This can not be happening."

Diane put on an assuring smile. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Boys I'll go down to the studio and tell your father Mrs. Collens and I told Dani the news."

"Bye Mom," Aidene said as Diane left the room.

"I'm gonna go to work," Mom said, taking her coat and following Denise out the door.

"Yeah! Thanks for leaving me at my life-time crisis!" I called out sarcastically.

"Aw, cheer up," Nate said, seeing how upset I was. "How about we all go change, then play some video games, get your mind off things."

I sighed. "Alright. But only because I'm starting to feel weird since we're all still squished in this stupid couch."

All of us sat there. We were too squished to move.

"... Awkward," Shane said after a moment of silence.

"Wow we're really stuck," Aiden commented.

Jason made a face. "No, _we're_ stuck. You're sitting on my lap."

Aiden looked forward. "Oh yeah." He jumped off as we all tried to get out of the couch.

"Aiden! Little help here?" I asked, trying to sit up.

Aiden thought a moment. "Uh, no."

"Aidne!" all of us yelled as he ran up the stairs laughing. Gosh, these were gonna be some two months.


	2. Matrimony

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

I was in my room, catching up on my summer reading. It was the beginning of August and I had not yet completed my giant book, let alone start."_Chapter one: Near a great forest lived_... OK break time." I heard Nate laugh at my door as I shut my book. "And what's with you?"

"Sorry," Nate said, walking to my bed. "I just find it weird how you can't take schoolwork."

"Yeah well I actually go _to_ high school. Makes me wish Mom could homeschool me but, you know."

"Yeah." He turned his head towards me. "How are you taking the marriage thing?"

"Um... ok I guess? Why are you asking?"

He pulled something out from his jacket and gave it to me. My eyes widened. On the cover of a magazine was a picture of Connect 3, and that one of them will have to marry me. "What the?!"

"I know," Nate said, rubbing his neck. "Kinda caught me off guard too."

"How'd they get a hold of this news?!"

He shrugged. "I don't know, Dani. It's been a week since we found out about the marriage. Maybe someone found out along the way."

I placed the magazine onto my bed. "Things can not get any worse."

"Hey, don't think that," Nate said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"Says you. You're Mr. Positive."

"And you're supposed to be the Mrs," he said, making me laugh. Back when I was younger, I was just as positive as he was. Then came high school. Guess that's where my girl teenagerness started.

"I am no one's Mrs," I clarified, taking his arm off me while trying not to laugh.

"Yeah you are. Don't you remember our pretend wedding when we were little?"

I blinked. "Oh, how could I forget my wedding day." I bent over and looked at a picture on my side table, Nate following my gaze. "Still remember it."

Nate and I laughed at the sight of the picture.

**--FLASHBACK--**

I remember it the day after my cousin's wedding. I was telling Nate about it and how beautiful Matrimony all was. But me being the 5 year old, I had no idea the the big word Matrimony was the same as Marriage. And in that case, neither did Nick.

"Then this music started playing and she walked down the isle in a pretty white dress and a long white veil."

"Wow, Dani," young Nate said, fascinated. "Then what?"

"She and this guy dressed in black stood in front of that priest and we had to wait a long while. Wedding speeches and all that. Got boring."

"Wow, you and borring sure don't mix," Nate laughed, imagining me listening to all of the sentences I didn't even know.

I nodded. "Yeah, until I heard them say 'I do' and then they kissed. On the lips!"

"Ew," we said at the same time, making gaging faces. It was pretty funny actually.

"Why'd they do that anyway?" Nate asked as I finally sat down from my explanation.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. Matramony's confusing for me."

"Me too, the way you put it," Nate said with a slight laugh.

"Hey, I'm new at this," I said, defending myself.

"Ok, ok," Nate said, stopping his laughter. "Maybe Matrimony is some kinda party between two friends who are a boy and girl."

I pondered. "Yeah, you're right. And my mom says its a big deal, so I guess you have to be best friends."

"Well we're best friends," Nate said with a smile. "Maybe we should celebrate our own Matrimony."

Excitement shined in my eyes. "Good idea! We can try and copy all that stuff my cousin did!"

Nate and I nodded and did our high five.

"But wait," he said. "How are we gonna get all those clothes?"

My shoulders dropped. "Oh yeah. And we need rings too."

"Not to mention one of those priests," Nate added.

"And we need a cake," I added. "And two tiny people at the top of it."

Nate gave me a look. "What?"

I shrugged. "I didn't make this stuff up. My guess would be that it's a Matrimony cake."

"... Ok," Nate shrugged, going along with it. "And I know just where to get it."

We grinned mischievously and nodded. We walked inside the Gray house from the backyard and sneaked into the kitchen. Nate climbed on top of the counter and pulled me up. We reached the cabinet and pulled out the box of those tiny mini cakes you buy at the super market. I hoped down and went to the fridge, grabbing the whipped cream. Then Nate went into his room and got out two lego people. We ran out to the back yard and placed all our stuff on the picnic table. We took out all of the tiny cakes inside the box and piled them up on the picnic table like building blocks. Then I shook up the whiped ream and covered every bit of the cakes in whipped cream. Then lastly, Nate took the two lego people and placed them on top.

"Alright," he said. "We got the Matramony cake. Now what?"

"I think we need the clothes."

"But where are we supposed to find them? I don't have any fancy tuxes."

I grinned again. "But Jason and Shane do."

"And your white dress?"

"Oh yeah, good point," I said with a pout.

"... We have some white towels in the closet," Nate suggested.

"Alright, we'll use those!"

And with that we began our second venture into the house. First we went to the closet and got out all of the white towels. Then we sneaked into Shane's and Jason's room. They were playing out in the front yard right now.

"So what are we supposed to be looking for exactly?" Nate asked as we stuck our heads inside.

"At the Matrimony, the guy wore one of those fancy black jackets."

We went into their closet and pulled out one of Shane's black jackets. I helped Nate put it on. The sleeves were a little long, but it fit nonetheless.

"Wow, it actually fits," Nate said, looking at himself.

I walked to him, a tie in my hand.

"Oh man, I have to wear a tie?" Nate asked. At this time, us kids weren't that much into ties, since we thought they'd choke you to death.

"Nah, this is Shane's clip on tie," I said.

Relief flew over Nate's face. "Good." He took off the jacket and I picked up the towels. We ran back outside to the backyard and places the clothing onto the picnic table.

"What's next?" I asked.

"The rings," Nate said proudly. "And I know just where to get them." He took my wrist and we ran back inside the house. He climbed onto the counter again and I watched as he pulled out a box of cereal.

"Whats that for, Nate?" I asked, looking up.

"It says here that there's a prize inside," Nate said, tossing it down to me, then getting one of the orange plastic bowls. "It says the prize is supposed to be two rings."

I smiled. "Perfect!"

He jumped down and I set the cereal on the table. He opened the un-opened cereal box and we poured all of it out and onto the bowl, which obviously over flowed. But either way, we got to the packet with two rings inside.

"We found it!" Nate said, grabbing it from the mini mountain of cereal.

"Let's get back to the backyard now," I said, hopping off the chair. We ran to the picnic table, again.

"OK, we got all this stuff. What's left?" Nate asked, placing the packet with the rings inside his pocket.

"The priest person," I answered. "And the music. Gosh, where are we supposed to find that?!"

Nate's eyes widened and he ran. "SHAANE! JAASON!"

I ran after him and we arrived at the front yard where the two older Grays were playing catch with a football.

"Shane! Jason!" Nate called again.

"Yeah?" an 8- year old Shane asked, catching the ball.

"Do you guys know where we can find a priest?" I asked, catching my breath behind Nate.

Jason, a 10-year old at the time, stifled a laugh. "And why do you need a priest?"

Nate grabbed my hand and we began swinging it back and forth. "Dani told me about her cousin's Matrimony yesterday. And since we're best friends, we want a Matrimony party too."

Shane laughed silently. "Dani do you even know what Matrimony is?"

I grinned and nodded, my hand still swinging with Nate's. "Yeah. It's when two best friends who are a boy and a girl celebrate their friendship."

Jason and Shane looked at eachother then burst out laughing to the point they fell down on the grass.

"What's so funny?" Nate asked, glaring.

Jason and Shane looked at eachother and nodded. Shane spoke first though. "You two are looking for a priest right?"

"Yes," Nate and I answered.

"How about you have me as the priest?" Shane asked.

"OK," I said with a bright smile.

"And Jason?" Nate asked. "You play guitar right? Can you play the music?"

Jason smiled. "Sure little bro."

"Yes!" Nate and I cheered, running to the backyard, only to have Jason and Shane follow.

**--10 MINUTES LATER--**

Jason was sitting on the picnic table, practicing his guitar. Shane was by the fence holding a big hardcover book that looked all fancy, but it was actually one of his mom's cookbooks. They were wearing ties to try and look appropriate for our Matrimony. Little did Nate and I know Jason and Shane were playing along only for the laughs.

Nate and I were laughing as we recalled our 'wedding'.

"That was such a fun day," I sighed out.

"Too bad we got in trouble afterwards for all the mess we made," Nate remembered.

"Oh yeah."

"Say Dani," Nate started. "Since your mom said you had to pick one of us. Am I included?"

I looked at him. "I don't know. Maybe. You have just as much of a chance as your brothers. Why do you ask?"

He blushed. "Uh, just curious."

I smiled and hugged him. "Don't worry. Right now I still don't know who I'm gonna end up marrying. But, you're still my best friend no matter what, kay?"

He nodded. "Yeah." _'Just best friends, nothing more.'_

I grinned. "Great. I'm gonna go talk to my Mom. I need to ask her when we'll be leaving."

Nate starred at me as I stood up. "Wait you're leaving?"

I arrived at the door and turned around, arms crossed. "Don't you remember? Each year my Mom and I leave home for the Summer Festival up town?"

"Ah, right," Nate said, feeling a little embarrassed for forgetting.

I smiled and left the room.

"You ready Dani?!" Shane called.

"Yeah!" I shouted back from inside.

Shane took Nate and ran up to the edge of the backyard. There was a path parked with stones on the side, instead of a red carpet. Jason started playing the wedding march on his guitar and I came out from the door. For a large white towel, it actually did look like a real dress. My white tank top was under neath with the towel wrapped around me from my chest down to my ankles, And I was wearing a white headband too.

"Wow," Shane and Nate said.

I laughed and walked down the 'aisle' to Nate's side. Jason stopped playing and faced us.

Shane opened the cookbook to the two pages that were all words and no pictures and began to pretend reading it. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to the celebrate Matrimony between Nathaniel Gray and Danielle Collens."

Jason laughed silenlty at how proffesional Shane sounded. Shane resumed, not really knowing what else to say. "Blah blah blah blah, blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah."

Nate and I laughed, Shane being the funny brother he always was.

"Ok," he said, stopping with the blahs. "Skipping to the point. Do you, Nathaniel Gray, take Danielle Collens to be your lawfully...bested friend?"

"I do!" Nate said.

Jason rolled his eyes at the words Shane used to replace the words 'wedded wife'.

"And do you, Danielle Collens, take Nathaniel Gray to be your lawfully bested friend?"

I grined. "I do!"

"Do you have the rings?" Jason spoke up.

"Right here," Nate said, taking out the packet and opening it. There were two plastic rings. He put one on my finger and I put one on his.

Shane smirked. "I bid you man and woman. You may now kiss."

Nate and I looked at eachother and shrugged. He kissed my cheek instead, since we were immature about kissing on the lips.

"Wow, a wedding," Jason laughed out, no longer able to keep it in.

Nate looked at him. "Wedding?"

Shane laughed, closing his book. "Yeah, don't you two get it? Matrimony is the same as a wedding."

Nate and I looked at eachother with priceless expressions on our faces.

"No way," I said with a face full of disbelief.

"Does this mean we have to have a baby?" Nick asked his brothers cluelessly, only to have them laugh even more and fall onto the ground.

I starred at the two boys. "Wow, I never would have known that Matrimony was the same as a marriage."

Nate shurgged. "Doesn't matter. We're still best friends, right?"

My grin returned to my face as we linked arms. "Yeah, you're right."

"What's going on here?"

All of us looked up and saw my Mom, Diane, and Peter, the guys' father.

"Look Mom! I'm married!" I shouted, waving my free arm.

My mom laughed. "You're what? To who?"

"Me!" Nate shouted, raising his free arm, our other arms still linked together.

"And how exactly did you two get married?" Diane asked, laughing a little like my mom was.

The two of us pointed at Shane. "He married us!"

--**END FLASHBACK--**

Nate and I were laughing as we recalled our '_wedding_'.

"That was such a fun day," I sighed out.

"Too bad we got in trouble afterwards for all the mess we made," Nate remembered.

"Oh yeah."

"Say Dani," Nate started. "Your mom said you had to choose who you're gonna be married. Alongside Shane and Jason, and I included in this?"

I looked at him. "I don't know. Maybe. You have just as much of a chance as your brothers I guess. Why do you ask?"

He blushed. "Uh, just curious."

I smiled and hugged him. "Don't worry. Right now I still don't know who I'm gonna end up marrying. But, you're still my best friend no matter what, kay?"

He nodded. "Yeah." _'Just best friends, nothing more.'_

I grinned. "Great. I'm gonna go talk to my Mom. I need to ask her when we'll be leaving."

Nate starred at me as I stood up. "Wait you're leaving?"

I arrived at the door and turned around, arms crossed. "Don't you remember? Each year my Mom and I leave home for the Summer Festival up town. Remember?"

"Ah, right," Nate said, feeling a little embarrassed for forgetting.

I smiled and left the room, leaving him to his thoughts.


	3. What Just Happened

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

"Hey mom," I greeted, arriving at the base of the steps. "When are we leaving for the Summer Festival? Some time next week?"

"Two days."

"Oh... quick."

My mom laughed. "You would have remembered earlier if you haven't been moping around the house."

I pouted. "Well excuse me for trying to think hard about choosing a groom for my own arranged marriage."

She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Relax. We'll be taking the boys with us."

My eyes widened and I turned my head. "Run that by me again?"

"Since I know this is a complicated time for you right now, I thought you would want to spend even more time with the boys, and at the Summer Festival."

I smiled. "Awesome. I can finally take the guys there. I've gotta go tell Nate!"

--

It was now the afternoon, and me and the guys were in our van, driving. Well, my mom was driving. Diane was sitting in the passengers seat, and me, Aiden, Jason, Nate, and SHane in the back. Their dad decided to stay back home to handle Connect 3 business.

"Are we there yet?" Aiden and I asked.

"No," Nate answered. "For the millionth time."

"How far is this place supposed to be anyway?" Jason asked from behind me.

I shrugged. "Usually about an hour. But I lost track of time."

"Like you ever had it," Shanee mumbled, making all of us looked at him, but in the end just start laughing.

--

"And here's where you guys will be staying," my mom said, sliding a door open to a Japanese themed house.

"Woah..." the guys said while I just grinned, holding my bags.

"Nice ain't it?" I said.

"And you're letting us sleep here?" Aiden asked his Mom.

Diane smiled. "Yup. Dani's mom and I will be next door."

"Vacation!" Shane shouted, into the house, making the boys run in to explore.

"You sure I can't join you guys?" I asked with a laugh.

"Well someone needs to watch the boys," Diane said.

"And us two need a vacation," Mom said with a wink.

Yeah, leave me to watch a n 8-year old wise kid and three international rock stars. Oh well. They walked off and I slid the door closed, all our shoes outside.

"AWSOME BED!" Shane yelled in a muffled voice.

I laughed, walking into the bed room. "I see you found the futons?"

"If you mean beds then yeah," Jason said, seeing Shane already resting in one.

I rolled my eyes. "The others should be in the closet. We use them when we sleep and when we're done, we roll them back up."

"You sure know a lot of this place," Nate commented.

"Well I happen to come here every summer," I said obviously. "But no matter. Just leave your bags here. I need to go out and check up on how things are going. The Festival's in a few days."

"Want us to come?" Aiden asked, running up to me and jumping on my back.

I laughed since I almost fell. "You don't have to, but you can come if you want."

"I'm staying here," Shane said muffled, still laying in the bed.

Jason laughed. "I'll stay here too. I'm kinda tired."

"I'm going!" Aiden shouted.

I smiled. "Alright then."

"Nate go with her," Jason said, taking a magazine from his bag.

Nate shot his head up. "Why?"

"To watch them?" Jason answered as if it were obvious.

I glared. "I don't need a baby-sitter."

"Yeah but Aiden does," Shane said, coming into the conversation. And yet, he still didn't move from his position, so his voiced was muffled again.

Nate sighed. "Alright I'll go. Happy?"

I smiled. "Come on. Can't be that bad walking around."

Aiden got off my back and we got our shoes on, walking out of the house. We began walking around the peaceful town. The thing I liked about this place was that there were no cars, no roads, no giant houses. Just simple paths, a bunch of colorful plants and trees, and the atmosphere of it all. Almost like Konoha from Naruto.

"This place is really nice," Nate said as we walked around.

Aiden agreed, nodded. "Yeah, not so city-like."

I smiled. "That's what I like about coming here. It's like living in my own anime world."

Nate laughed. "You still watch those?"

I gave him a look. "I always did, just rarely since I'm always with you guys."

"Hey Dani! Look!" Aiden shouted, pointing at a small shop. It was a fortune telling place. And without warning, Aiden ran.

"Aiden!" Nate called out. "Come on, we better follow him."

I nodded and we ran after him into the shop. We stopped when we came inside. It was fairly simple with a few decorations here and there. And one person there too.

"Sorry we're closed," said the young woman, until she looked up. "Dani that you?"

I waved. "Hey Mitchie."

She noticed me with Aiden and Nate. "You've got a kid and a husband?"

Blushes were sent to my face, as was Nate;s. _Now _it seemed like an anime. "Wha?"

"Nah, he's my brother," Aiden corrected for us. "And Dani's mom invited us here."

_'How is it Aiden's acting more mature here?'_ I thought to myself.

"Oh, friends from home I see," Mitchie said, pondering. She walked up to us, a little taller. Tori held out her hand. "Name's Tori. And you?"

Nate smiled and shook her hand. "Nate Gray. This is my little brother, Aiden."

"Hi," Aiden waved.

She cocked her eyebrow. "Gray?"

"Heard of Connect 3?" I asked. I just remembered that Mitchie lives here, so she doesn't really listen to the media so much.

She shook her head. "Nope. Just that it seems familiar."

I smiled. "Probably because you heard someone say it. They're not exactly normal."

"Like you," she asked.

I made a face. "Hey."

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "So, what brings you to my shop?"

"Aiden here just ran off and we followed him," Nate explained.

"Are you psychic?" Aiden asked.

Mitchie smiled. "Yeah, but sorry. Just cleaning out the place for the Festival tomorrow."

"Figures you'd be helping," I said. "What's this year's show?"

"Show?" Nate asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Each year they always have a play down in the center of the village. They base them off Japanese legends and all that stuff."

"This year it's the story of the Priestess and Prince," Mitchie said, carrying another cardboard box to the front of the room.

"Isn't that your bed time story, Dani?" Aiden asked, tugging at my hand.

I smiled nervously. "Yeah."

"Wait so you know the story?" Mitchie asked all of a sudden.

I blinked. "Um, yeah. Why?"

"Because we reeeeeaaaly need someone to play the part of the priestess," Mitchie said in almost a begging sort of way.

"Say what?"

"And the prince," Mitchie said, bringing her attention to Nate.

"What?"

"Hold on," I said before this could get any father. "We just got here less than ten minutes ago and you're asking us to act in a play for the festival?"

"Well if Nate's as famous as you say, he shouldn't be that bad memorizing lines."

"Actually, I'm not so comfortable with acting," Nate admitted.

"And I'm not comfortable with crowds," I added. "You know how many people watch."

"Which is why we really need you guys!" Mitchie shouted, almost waving her arms up. Ha, she's supposed to be the mature 19-year old and look at her.

"Come on, Dani," Aiden said. "You read me the story a lot of times. You won't forget your lines."

I sighed in defeat. I hate when Aiden uses that innocent act. "Gosh I hate you."

Aiden grinned in victory. "And Nate?"

Nate gave his brother a look. "I'm not falling for it."

Aiden sighed as I arched my eyebrow. "If you say so Nate. I guess with Dani as the lead roll of the priestess, Mitchie's gonna have to find someone else to take the lead roll of the prince. I mean, it _is_ a romance story after all. Can't have the girl without a guy. And I mean, since its a romance, Dani's gonna have to act all lovey-dovey with some stranger. But I guess you just don't care about your best friend after all these years."

Nate's head shot up in an instant. "I'll do it."

I made a surprised expression on my face. "What just happened?"

Mitchie laughed, patting Aiden's head. "Wow kid, you've got strategy to get through a brick wall like Nate here. Kinda reminds me of a certain someone I used to hang around with. But that doesn't matter. I'll meet you at your place later today when I'm done working."

And with that, Nate, Aiden, and I left the shop. "Again I ask: What just happened?"

"I don't really know myself," Nate said.

Aiden just grinned. "What I definitely know is that you two are gonna kiss during the play!"

My head blew its top of. "AIDEN!!"

He started laughing and running with me hot on his trail. Nate sighed as he watched from the shop entrance. Gosh, at this point it really did seem like an anime. I somehow end up in a sitch with Nate in a romance play and then Aiden starts teasing us about it. And here I am, chasing him in circles. But wait, why am I complaining? I don't like Nick, but we're best friends. But the more I think about it, the more I think of choosing him as my husband for the marriage. Argh, my head hurts.


	4. My Kimono

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

Shane fell backwards, laughing. "You're in what now?"

Nate sighed again. "We met this lady and she says Dani and I have to act in that Priestess and Prince play at the festival."

Jason laughed a little. "And why'd you agree to it if you're acting so bummed out?"

I glared at Aiden. "A certian Gray here pursuaded us through tricks and wit."

Jason looked at Aiden. "Wow, you're becoming more like Shane every day now."

Aiden grinned while Nate and I looked at eachother in worry. This could not end well. And this was supposed to be _my_ time of year.

We heard a knock at the front door. "Dani! You there?!"

"I better get that," I said, standing up. No surprise that the guys decided to follow. When I slid the door open, I saw Mitchie standing there.

"Hey," she said with that smile of hers.

I nodded and stepped aside so she could come in. "Thanks for coming."

"So she's the girl who got you into the play?" Shane asked.

I nodded. "Shane, Jason, this is Mitchie. Mitchie, these are my friends from back home, Connect 3. You already met Aiden and Nate."

There was an awkward silence as we all just stood there, starring. I was looking back and forth at everyone, wondering what it was all about. It was all answered when Shane and Mitchie screamed like little girls, only to run in a hug and jump around.

"What's going on?" I asked as I closed the door.

"Dani, did I ever tell you the story about me and Shane?" Mitchie asked like an excited fan girl, which wasn't really like her.

I blinked, trying to remember. "No not quite. Maybe you did and I wasn't listening."

"You know her?" Nate asked Shane.

Shane grinned. "Yeah, you were still a baby then, Nate. Mitchie was one of my classmates when I was 4."

"How you two tortured me so," Jason said, shaking his head. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here?" Mitchie said. "Anyway, will you guys be staying for the festival?"

Shane nodded excitingly. "Yup, thanks to Dani here."

I smiled nervously. "I-It was actually my Mom's idea."

"Your mom?" MKitchie asked as if she didn't believe me. "She never lets you near any guy. What's so special about these guys?"

"Hey," Shane said as if he were insulted.

I laughed. "Seems as if my mom still wants the Collens family to follow tradition. I'm engaged to one of them."

Mitchie looked back at me and the guys. "Woah. Arranged marriage. I thought I'd never see the day."

"Anyway back to the reason you're here," I said, not wanting to talk about the marriage.

"Oh, right," Mitchie said, taking out some papers from her bag. "Here's the script. Be lucky you don't have to say a lot. Memorize these together. No rehearsals."

"No rehersals?" Nate and I said at the same time.

"Yup, just winging it like we do every year," Mitchie said, hanging us our scripts. "Listen, I've got some work to do right now. So Dani, how about later today at 6:00, we go shopping for kimonos. Alright?"

I nodded. "Fine. Thanks."

Mitchie smiled. "Got it. And nice seeing you again Shane, Jason."

Shane waved in a daze as Mitchie walked out.

Jason laughed, waving a hand in front of Shane's face. "Looks like someone's love struck."

"What happened anyway?" Nate asked out of curiosity.

"Mitchie and Shane used to be best friends, like you and Nate are," Jason explained. "Then she moved away and Shane was missing her like crazy."

"No I wasn't!" Shane retorted.

I smirked at his objection. "I guess I'm gonna have to cross you of the engagement list if you like Mitchie, Shane."

"I don't like her!" Shane whined stubornly like a little kid. "She's 19 and I'm 18 anyway."

Jason laughed. "Age is just a number Shane. Besides, you're taller than her."

"Well that makes no sense!"

"Mitchie and Shane, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Aiden sang, only to have Shane start chasing him around the house.

"What is it today with Aiden being chased?" Nick asked randomly.

I laughed, remembering earlier today. "Shut up, Nate."

--

Mitchie and I were out in town, walking around.

"You seem quiet today, Dani," Mitchie spoke up.

"Huh?" I brought my head up. "Sorry Mitchie. Ever since my mom told me about the arrange marriage to one of the Grays, I've been dazing out a lot."

She gave me a warm smile. "At least you're not pissed off about it."

"You're not helping."

We arrived at the kimono store. I decided to get a new one since I was starting to grow out of my old kimono. I was waiting outside the dressing room.

"Seriously, what do you think about the marriage?" Mitchie asked from inside. She was trying on a kimono.

I shrugged from my seat, even though she couldn't see it. "I don't know. It's confusing. They're all really good friends to me, so I can't really picture being married to one of them, let alone fall in love."

"Fall in love?" Mitchie asked, kinda surprised. "Now I know something's up. Is it that Nate kid?"

I scoffed. "You think that just because you're 19, you can call everyone kid."

"Answer," she said in a serious voice.

I sighed. "I don't know what to think about Nate. We're only best friends. And choosing him to be my husband would only terminate our current friendship. Not to mention if anything goes wrong in the marriage, things could turn out bad."

"Hm, you're right... And you know the purposes of arranged marriages, to continue the family. So if you marry _Nate_, you'll have to have a kid of your own some time. Which means you'd have to do _it _then eventually."

I blushed red at the thought of me and Nate doing_ it_.

"Unless you already have," Mitchie interjected.

By now my face was as red as a tomato. "S-Shut up, Mitchie. Besides, he has a purity ring."

"Ah, a purity ring. He's a good guy for you."

I sighed. "My life seriously is a drama."

She chuckled and opened the door revealing herself in a kimono. "How do I look?"

I made a small smile. "Pretty good. _Shane's_ gonna love it."

It was her turn to blush. "W-What did you just say?"

I smirked. "Jason said you and Shane used to be best friends until you moved."

Her eye twitched and shut shut them, crossing her arms stubbornly. "That doesn't mean anything."

I laughed. "Then why are you blushing?"

"I am not blushing!" she yelled, only making me laugh more. Good thing there weren't a lot of people here.

--

"I'm home!" I called into the house, holding a bag.

"Hey," Shane greeted, running into the room, unlike Nate and Jason who casually walked in.

"So how was kimono shopping?" Nate asked.

"Pretty good," I lied. It was torture for half of the trip, trying not to blush when Mitchie said something. "How was... home?"

"Bo-ring," Shane said in a sing-songy voice. "We were waiting for you!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Why?"

"Shane here wants to make a video for youtube," Jason answered, taking out the camera form behind his back.

"And you waited for _me_... why?"

"Because you're the reason we're here," Nate said, taking an arm around my shoulder.

"And I'm recording it!" Aiden said, stealing the camera from Jason.

I sighed. "Alright, alright. Let's get this over with."

Aiden grinned. "Sweet!"

Jason, Shane, and Nate stood in a clearing in the room and I stayed beside Aiden, who turned on the camera.

"Hey again!" Nate greeted, being the first to speak. "We're Connect 3, Jason, Shane, and Nate."

"And we are on an exotic adventure back in time," Shane said dramatically, getting close to the camera as a close up. I had to try and not to laugh while he did that.

Jason rolled his eyes. "We're not back in time, Shane. What he meant to say was that we're taking a trip with Nate's best friend, Dani Collens. Dani get over here."

I mouthed no and made a sign with my hand across my neck. Luckily Aiden stayed still and didn't move the camera towards me. Shane made a face and walked out of the camera's sight.

"AHHH!" I screamed, being thrown over Shane's shoulder. My fists were pounding on his back. "SHANE PUT ME DOWN!"

"SHANE NO PUT DOWN DANI!"

Jason and Nate laughed at how funny Shane acted as a cave man. Finally we came into the camera's view and Shane threw me off, only to fall onto Nate and onto the ground, where the camera didn't see us.

"You two alright?" Jason asked, looking down.

"We're good!" I shouted, bringing my arm up with a thumbs up, which the camera saw. Then Aiden brought the camera down towards us. Nate was at the bottom and I was ontop, in a VERY awkward positon. Anyone could mistake us for doing something. And you know how awkward that'd feel for me.

I blushed as I saw all of them looking at us. Eventully Nate and I helped eachother stand back up.

Aiden was smiling as he continued recording, bringing the camera back up.

"Anyway..." Jason resumed. "We'll be attending a Summer Festival here in a few days."

"And two certain somebodies are gonna be acting in a romance play," Shane whispered not so quietly to the camera up close again, pointing at Nate and me.

"Yeah thanks for telling them Shane," Nate said sarcastically.

Shane held his hands up. "Well excuse me for keeping the fans up to date."

"Dani you say something to the fans," Jason said, and with that everyone's attention reverted to me again.

I blinked, unsure of what to day. "Uh, hi people. Hehe, and what Shane said was true. Nate and I will be in a play on the day of the festival."

"And if you're gonna miss it, don't worry," Shane said. "We'll have Jason and your's truly record the entire thing and we'll post it up too."

"What?" Nate and I said from outside the shot.

Jason and Shane laughed and Aiden backed up so all four of us were in the shot again.

"And that's pretty much it," Jason concluded. "Keep checking for any other random updates we'll be posting up while we're here."

"Bye," Nate and I waved.

"SHANE KIDNAP DANI NOW!" Shane yelled out randomly, picking me up over his shoulder again.

"AHH!" You know where this goes. "Put me down! Jason Nate a little help please!"

They began chasing Shane around the room with me over his shoulder and Aiden recording the whole thing. Finally he turned the camera around towards him. "Like Jason said, keep checking for more updates. Because as you can see here," he turned the camera towards our chase then back at him, "there's gonna be a lot of randomness here."

Aiden pressed a button and signaled the camera was off. Though, I was still over Shane's shoulder and being chased by Nate and Jason. But by now, we were all laughing. Finally Nate and Jason cornered Shane and then jumped onto the couch, with me still on him.

"Wow," I said, spiting some hair out of my mouth. "Aiden you get all that?"

"Yup!" Aiden said, already on the computer to upload the video.

Nate sighed and took a seat as well. "That was weird."

"Definitely," Shane agreed

"What no more caveman?" Jason asked.

"Nope, to tired," Shane said, his head falling back.

I shook my head and stood up, taking my bag that was still at the door.

"That your kimono?" Nate asked.

I nodded, walking across the room. "Yes."

"Can we see you in it?" Nate asked, making all the guys look at me.

I giggled. "Not until the day of the festival."

"Please Dani!" Shane said tiredly from the couch. "We've never seen you in one before!"

"I've never seen you guys in dresses before but you don't see me complaining," I said as I closed the door to the bedroom.

The guys looked at eachother.

"She's got a point," Nate said only to be hit by flying pillows sent by Jason and Shane.


	5. Awkward

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

I was sitting at a dango shop in town, going over the script. Honestly, I didn't really want to practice in the house with Nate. It would be awkward. If we were little kids and had no idea how big a deal romance was, then we'd be cool with practicing together. And to make things worse, while I was sitting here, I got some stares from by passers. 

All these comments were not gonna get to me, but it one did.

"Did you hear? I heard Tess Tyler and Caitlyn Geller are coming here, to the festival!"

"Really?"

"Of course, I read it in a magazine."

"And of course they'd come. That Danielle girl might pick Nate for the marriage. No surprise the ex's would come."

My eyes looked down onto my script like boulders. Great, this was what I hated about the news finding out about the marriage, they'll get girls' attention, including ex's, which happen to be celebs just like Nate. Whyyyy can't the people I hang out with be normal?

I finished my drink, a smoothie, not alcohol, and went out of the small shop. I walked through the empty streets and ignored more stares. Suddenly I bumped into someone by accident without paying attention. I looked up and saw a girlin a trench coat. Her hair was similarly like mine, short and black. But her eyes were covered by dark sunglasses.

"Sorry," I apologized, until I saw her starring at me. "Um, are you alright?"

Her head jumped and she stood back up, dusting herself off then walking away. "I-I'm fine."

I turned my head and blinked, still on the ground. "That was weird." I know it wasn't Tess or Caitlyn, so who? You know how in anime there are moments when the tension is just so thick and you know something's gonna happen? That's what I was feeling. I was definitely living in a real life anime plot.

"I'm home!" I called, walking in.

"Hey Dani," Nate greeted, watching TV. "You alright?"

"Just fine" I said lazily closing the door and taking off my shoes. "I don't know how you and your brothers take being famous. It's like a nuisance."

Nate chucked. "Well it kinda is. Why? Anything happen?"

I shook my head, sighing. "Just a bunch of people giving me looks. They think that just because we're the same age and that we're closer that I'll pick you for the arranged marriage."

"Well, I'd think the same thing too if I weren't Nate Gray."

I laughed a little and sat down next to him. "Can't argue with you there. So how was practicing for your lines here?"

Nate laughed. "Impossible?"

I gave him a look. "Ok how bad was it?"

"Since you weren't here, Jason and Shane had to help me. Shane was acting your part and Jason narrated. And you have no idea how hard it is to not laugh while Shane's acting like that."

I laughed at the thought. Shane probably acted over dramatic for the thing. "Oh gosh you're right. Haha, I am so sorry I had to leave you with that."

"No problem," Nate said with a returning smile. "You know, something tells me you're more nervous than I am."

"Well duh. I hate crowds and you know it."

Nate smiled and I did too. There was an awkward silence between us.

"So," I said suddenly.

"So..." Nate repeated right after.

There were flips in my stomach. I've never felt so nervous around him. Gosh I hate being a teenager! I blame the hormones.

"Dani," Aiden called, walking into the room in his pj's. "Can you read me another story?"

I turned around on the couch. "What about Shane and Jason?"

"I wanna hear a story from _you_," Aiden said sleepily like a little kid.

"Maybe we could all use a good story," Nate chimed in, looking at me.

"Yeah, gang up on me," I said playfully and standing up. "You go take Aiden to the bedroom. I'm gonna go get my book."

--**NATE'S POV--**

I went and took Aiden to the bedroom. There Jason and Shane, already in their sleeping clothes, were relaxing in their beds, or futons as Dani sometimes calls them.

"So Dani said yes?" Jason asked, looking at us.

"Yup!" Aiden cheered, jumping onto his bed.

I smiled and quickly grabbed a tank top and boxers from my bag. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom and change first."

Shane turned his head. "Nate wait-"

I ran out of the bedroom and down the hall and pushed the door open, leaving me starring.

Dani turned her head. She was there, standing in white underwear, her white bra in her hands. I was starring at her bare back, only imagining the front.

I blinked, still starring. "Uh..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Dani screamed in a high pitched voice, her arms quickly flying to her chest.

I screamed too, but not a high pitched scream. I quickly stumbled backwards closing the door. I ran back to the bed room like my life depended on it. But in this case, it probably did.

"What happened?" Aiden asked, tilting his head.

I sank to the ground, sweat on my forehead. "Don't ask."

--**DANI'S POV--**

I remembered my book was in my bag with all my clothing in it, which I kept somewhere in the living room. I grabbed it and went to the bathroom, to change into my pj's. I shut the door and stripped down to my panty and bra. I unzipped my bag and took out a pair of clothes. After getting out my pajamas, my hands unclasped my bra and it fell in my hand. And at the same time, I heard the door creak. I was too scared to move myself, so I moved my head. There behind me was Nate, holding some clothes of his own in his hand. I was still standing, my bra in my hand. He was starring at my naked back, so he didn't see anything. But knowing boys, Nate was imagining the rest of me right now.

I screamed at the top of my lungs as my arms went to cover my chest incase he happened to catch a glimpse of it. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Nate screamed and fell backwards, closing the door shut. I heard their footsteps run down the hall as if a giant boulder was right behind hi , chasing him.

I sighed in relief, my arms falling. I got in and took a quick shower, then dressed up again. I took my bag and quietly walked into the bedroom. They guys looked at me, all nervous. But Nate was blushing, being the most embarrassed. "Dani, I am so, so sorry about barging in like that-"

I smiled. "I-It's alright. It was just an accident anyway." _'My life is just filled with awkwardness, isn't it.'_

"What happened?" Jason asked, probably already knowing what happened.

Nate blushed again and looked down. "Uh, I sorta, walked in on her while she was, uh, changing." I blushed a little too, remembering the weird moment.

"Whoa," Shane said, his eyebrows raised high.

You could feel the tension in the air and cut it with a knife, that knife being Aiden. "What's the big deal? Shane didn't you tell me that when Dani and Nate were little, they used to take baths together?" Nate and I turned red from embarrassment yet again. Kill me, just kill me now. Please.

Jason gave Shane a look. "You told him that?!"

"What? He was having an embarassing day at school!"

"So you tell him about that?!"

"Nothing's more embarassing than_ that_."

Jason groaned and shook his head as Shane just looked around the room. Aiden was tilting his head and Nate and I were just avoiding eye contact with everything but our feet. We were really red in the face.

I would have yelled too like Jason, but I was too busy blushing mad, my grip on my bad still tight. And yeah, that was true. Like now, I used to sleep over with the Grays a lot, and vise versa. And to save water, our moms made me and Nate take baths together, probabaly until we were like 5. But we were little children, not really carring. To us it was like going swimming in a little kiddie pool, but without bathing suits or clothes. Luckily we were able to keep _that_ news away from the media. And I actually forgot about it, until now.

__

'Oh gosh... I bet Natek's just as nervous as I am. Gah, Shane will never let me live this down will he.'

"So, uh," Aiden stammered, seeing how embarassed Nate and I were. "Are you still gonna read us a story, Dani?"

My head shot up. "Oh yeah, the story. Right. Yup, the story. I got the book right here."

We all sat down on our beds, all lined up. Jason's, then Shane's, then Aiden's in the middle, then Nate's, then mine at the end. I sat down and reached into my bag, pulling out my Japanese story book.

"So what's tonight's story?" Aiden asked, sitting next to Nate so he could hear better.

I flipped through the pages. "Did I ever tell you the story about the Legend of the Sakura Tree?"

"What's that?" Aiden asked, excited to hear it.

I smiled and looked down on the page. "It says here that the Priestess once visited a Sakura Tree. This was during the middle of the story I told you last time. With her powers, she sensed a disturbance in the Sakura Tree. It was cursed, and therefore it's cherry blossoms stayed buds, never to blossom, no matter how many grew. It's inside beauty was hidden away because of the curse."

"Then what?" Aiden asked. "Did the priestess use magic to help the tree?"

"Well, a curse is a curse, Aiden. They can't be broken so easily. But, the priestess did find out how to cure the tree. Two people destined for eachother had to share their first kiss together under the tree, and the curse would be lifted."

"Then why did't she kiss the prince there?" he asked.

I laughed. "She would have, if she and the prince had realised their love. By the time they did, the priestess had died."

"Interesting short story," Shane said. "Is it real?"

I shrugged, closing my book. "I don't know if it's real through, the cursed Sakura Tree. Kind of a mystery to me."

"Well Aiden, you got your story. Time for bed," Jason said.

"Aw," Aiden whined, getting off Nate's lap and to his bed, Shane following.

Nate smiled at me a little and layed down in his bed. "You sure know how to amuse children."

"Maybe because I live with a bunch of them?"

Nate made a face. "Hey."

I laughed, lying down. "I meant Aiden and Shane."

"Hey!" Shane copied Nate.

Nate and I laughed silently as jason turned the lamp off. Even though, in the dark, I couldn't fall asleep. I suddenly had the marriage in mind again.

"Can you sleep?" Nate asked from beside me.

I loved how he could read my mind like that. "Not really."

"How come?"

It seemed the others were already asleep, if they couldn't hear me and Nate. "I'm scared I guess," I said quietly, pulling the covers up higher towards me.

"Why?" Nate's gentle voice asked. "You're not one to fall to pressure so easily."

"It's the marriage," I told him. "What if my marriage doesn't work out? For all I know, I might loose all of you guys... I don't want that."

After a few seconds, I felt something brush my hand from under the covers. I recognized that touch.

"Your hands are cold, you know," Nate said.

I smiled through the darkness. "Yeah... sorry."

He chuckled and I felt his fingers wrap around my hand, to try and keep it warm. I might have blushed, but I couldn't tell.

"Better?" Nate asked.

I nodded. "Yes... Thank you."

"Don't worry, Dani. Everything's gonna be just fine."

I yawned. "I hope so." And with that my eyes fluttered shut, my fingers intertwining with Nate's.

--

I was feeling some sun pour into the room. It came onto my face and I slowly opened my eyes. I felt somewhat warmer than I usualy would. When I got the vision back in my sight, I saw all one color. I was thinking where the heck I was, until I realized my hands, and where they were. My eyes widened and I prevented my scream from escaping my mouth. I was laying across one of the beds, Nate's bed. My head and hands were laying on his chest, feeling his firm six-pack. And his strong muscular arms were wrapped around me. And I blame myself that I just noticed that now. I mean, how did I _not_ before? And our legs were intertwined underneath the covers.

__

'Oh my gosh...'

I tried to get out, Nate only groaned and clung to me more. His grip around me became more firm and his legs brushed against mine, making me blush even more. And I couldn't even see anything but his shirt.

__

'Calm down, Danielle. This can not, can NOT get. any. worse.'

Even with saying it in the mind, it still worked in real life. I tilted my head up a bit and saw Jason and Shane standing right over us, starring.

__

'...Aren't they gonna do anything?'

My life is just filled with awkward moments, isn't it. "Um, Nate?" I whispered, trying to be as gentle as possible for some ridiculous reason.

He shifted a little bit again. And I could swear I could feel his, uh, lower region, brushing up against me, if you know what I'm saying. I think anyone would agree with me if I said this was definitely like a romance anime, me being the girl always ending up in the awkward positions. Awkward doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now.

"Yo Nate, stop cuddling with your girlfriend," Shane whispered into Nate's ear.

At that second, Nate's eyes opened and he looked down at my eyes, realising our position. He quickly let go and we broke off, trying to get up, only to get tangled in our covers.

"Ugh, a little help here?!" I whined, trying to get out of this tangled mess.

Finally, Shane and Jason helped us out.

"Uh, sorry about that," Nate said, stammering a bit.

It was weird since Nate never really does that. "It's ok. Just an accident right?"

"Right!"

"Riiight..." Jason said in that voice.

Nate and I glared his way as he and Shane left the room.

I sighed. "Well, I'm gonna go get dressed for the day."

"You go do that," Nate said, trying to act like his usual self, when clearly he wasn't. I don't think either of us were acting like our usual selves. After I grabbed my clothes from my bag, I rushed out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom.

--**NATE'S POV--**

Shane chuckled and walked back into the room with Kevin. "Smooth, Mr. President."

I gave him a look, which only got him to laugh a little more.

"You honestly didn't feel anything during the night?" Jason asked, his arms crossed. He was smiling, but didn't laugh like Shane was.

"Well you know how I sleep," I said, trying not to be too affected. "I sleep like a rock."

"A rock that was crushing Dani in her sleep," Shane commented, making me throw a pillow at him.

"She probably hates me now," I said, shaking my head as I went to my bag to get some clothes.

"Ah she doesn't hate you," Jason said in an assuring voice. "It's just that you two are finally growing up and have to realise that long-time-boy-girl friendship can't just keep staying that way without anything coming in between."

"And that thing would be?" I asked, not enjoying this one bit.

"Teenager hormones?" Shane said as if it were obvious. "And you know, I could tell that while the two of you were asleep in that position, you were definitely enjoying it."

I blushed at the thought of how Dani and I wee sleeping at night. I mean, how long were we like that? How _did_ we get like that? But over all, as much as I hate to admit it, I kind of enjoyed the feeling of having her in my arms, as if she were my property and mine alone. Either way, I couldn't think like that. Dani's my best friend.

"She may be your best friend Nate," Jason said, "but you might have to accept the fact you're finally forming feelings for her. Especially at a time like this."

I sighed, admiting defeat. It was official. I like-liked my best friend.

That's the girl from the magazine.

She's getting married to one of the members of Connect Three.

I bet's she's gonna choose Nate just to screw him.


	6. Tess and Caitlyn

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

**--DANI'S POV--**

I was at a building where there were a bunch of volunteers setting up for the play. I came by for a fitting for my costume.

"Alright, perfect," Mitchie said, seeing me twirl around in a kimono that looked like it was for royalty.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna trip," I said, seeing how close it was to the floor. It was like you could barely see my feet and that you could almost say I was floating like a ghost. "Do I have to wear this during the play?"

"Ah, you'll do fine, Dani," Mitchie told me.

"Thanks for the costumes," said a voice behind us.

We turned around, seeing two people I was hoping to avoid all day. Tess Tyler and Caitlyn Geller. I gulped, not knwoing wherther to panic or faint.

"No problem," Mitchie said, taking the two costumes from them. "Thanks for filling on those spots."

"No problem. Acting's in our blood," Caitlyn said nicely.

"Yeah," Tess agreed, seeing me over Mitchie's shoulder. "Hey, you're Danielle Collens, right?"

I nodded nervosuly. "Y-Yeah."

"Are you done with your costume fitting?" Caitlyn asked.

"She is," Mitchie answered for me.

"Would you mind meeting us outside by the park?" Tess asked. "We need to talk."

I nodded again. "Uh, sure. I'll be a minute."

"Cool," Caitlyn said, walking away with Tess. To me, this was like talking to the populars at school who wanted nothing more than to make you miserable.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I said, walking back into the dressing room.

"Don't be," Mitchie said outside of it. "Those two seem really nice."

"Well you're not the one in my situation," I retorted back, changing into my regular clothes. "And you think everyone is nice."

"Thanks for the costume, Mitchie," said a voice from outside the dressing room.

"Yeah, sure," Micthie said in an annoyed voice.

"You sure I can't take the spot for the lead roll?" asked the mystery girl.

"Sorry, already taken by someone," Mitchie said in a victorious voice. The girl's footsteps echoed away and then Mitchie scoffed. "Dani, if anything you should have a bad feeling with, it should be with Hillary."

"Who's Hillary?" I asked curiously.

"The girl who got the part of the princess in the play," Mitchie told me, still outside the dressing room. "She's been after your part all summer."

I made a face. "I thought you didn't have anyone for that part when you told me."

She made a little laugh. "Dani, you know how I run the Fortune Telling Shop. As weird as I am with this psychic stuff, I did myself a reading with my crystal ball."

"... You have a crystal ball?"

Mitchie laughed. "Yeah. And somehow, I got a message that you and a boy would be having something soon. So I thought of reserving the parts of the Prince and Priestess for you two."

"So you knew it all along," I said in realization.

Mitchie nodded from outside. "Yup."

"I hate you," I said with a small laugh.

"Don't blame me," Mitchie said in a singing voice. "If anything, I'm helping you."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, by including three girls in the play who probably hate my guts right now."

--

I was walking to the park, taking my time. I wasn't looking forward to talking with the two celebrities. As I walked, I realized why they chose the park. It was a pretty isolated place, as beautiful and peaceful it was. But I was feeling anything but.

I found them sitting by a tree, waiting for me. I always thought that they hated eachother, from magazine articles I read. Caitlyn dated Nate, Tess had a problem being an ex, but that was a while ago. At this point I'm believing they made a truce to bring me down, the _'curent girl after Nate Gray'_. Gah, I'm starting to think the worse now.

"Uh, hi," I said, walking up to them.

Tess looked up. "Oh, Danielle. Come, sit down with us."

I hesitantly sat down in front of the two. There was an awkward silence between the three of us.

"Um, Danielle," Caitlyn started. "You're probably wondering why we called you here."

I nodded, biting my lip. "Yeah."

"Don't worry! We're not mad or anything!" Tess said all of a sudden, kinda spooking me.

Caitlyn gave her a look. "So much for strating out calmly."

"Um, am I missing anything here?" I asked.

Tess laughed a little and gave a comforting smile. "Sorry about that. If you're wondering, we're just as nervous as you are."

I made a face. "_You're_ nervous? I thought you two wanted to kill me or something."

Caitlyn laughed. "We thought you wanted to kill _us_ for coming here."

I smiled, feeling a little more comfortable. "So, why exactly did you come here?"

"Well," Tess said. "We read in a magazine that you were set for an arranged marriage to one of the guys from Connect 3."

"And with you and Nate being the same and and best friends and all, rumor has it that you'll be picking him," Caitlyn finished.

"And, uh, you know how girls are with Connect 3," Tess addedwith a tiny laugh. "They'd do anything to be with them. Trust me."

I nodded. "I know the feeling."

"So Tess and I sorted out our differenced, got together to come here, check up on you," Caitlyn continued. "To make sure you were alright for Nate."

I laughed. "Guys, Nate and I are only friends. I don't even know if I'll be choosing Nate as my husband."

"Ohhhh," Tess said. "Guess we came to a fast conclusion on this one."

Caitlyn shrugged. "Oh well. We're here to stay, for the festival anyway. Sorry about all this, Danielle. We were only looking out for Nate."

I smiled. "No problem. I guess I'd do the same thing. And you can call me Dani instead, if you want."

Tess nodded, smiling. "Sure. You're pretty awesome, for a normal girl."

I laughed. "And you guys are pretty great yourselves. You know, for celebrities."

The three of us broke into laughs. Wow what a day. I just made friends with Tess Tyler and Caitlyn Geller. It sorta made me forget all about this morning's events.

--

I was at home, sitting on the couch and going over my lines again.

"Hey," Jason greeted, walking into the room.

I lifted my head. "Oh, didn't think anyone was home."

Jason laughed. "Yeah. Aiden, Shane, and Nate left with our moms to go shopping for kimonos for the festival."

"Then why didn't you go?" I asked suspiciously.

"I hid in the closet," Jason answered.

I rolled my eyes. "Sounds like something Shane would do. Is Nate still mad about this morning?"

"He's not mad," Jason scoffed. "But he's definitely thinking about it."

I groaned and sank in my seat. "Gosh! Why is my life filled with embarrassing moments?!"

"Sounds like being a girl's hard."

"You think?" I asked, sitting back up when realizing Jason was beside me. "First the marriage, then the play, and then Tess and Caitlyn."

"Wait what's the last part?" Jason asked.

"Tess and Caitlyn are gonna be in the play too," I told. "But don't worry, they're cool. We actually hung out today."

"They didn't kill you or anything?" Jason asked.

I shook my head. "Surprisingly no. But that Hillary girl would."

"Now who's that?"

I laughed. "Some jealous girl that got the villain part in the play. She wanted my part."

"Ah," Jason said, realizing the new conflict in my life.

I sighed. "And then there's Nate. Lately things have been so different for us in some way."

"Maybe you're stating to like him?" Jason asked as if explaining a baby how to walk.

I blushed and crossed my arms. "No way. Nate and I are only best friends, nothing more."

He laughed. "Yeah right. Dani do you know how many anime shows there are in which the best friends actually _get together_?"

I thought about what Jason said. There really were a bunch of anime shows like that. And not just anime. There was Ned's Declassified, Danny Phantom, Jimmy Neutron, and anything else I could be forgetting. But what Jason said was actually true.

"Dani?" Jason asked, waving a hand in front of my face.

My head jumped. "Oh sorry for spacing out like that. I was just thinking about what you said."

Jason cocked his eyebrows. "And?"

"You were right," I said, an upset expression on my face. "Whyyy do you have to be right?"

"Because it's the truth. And you need your happy ending before you get engaged to be married to anyone."

"I don't know. But this is real life ,Jason. I can't get together with my best friend, let alone marry him."

"Ooh, so you're considering about choosing him!" Jason said as if catching me.

I laughed at how childish he was acting. "I don't know. Maybe."

Jason smirked. "Fine, let's try the process of elimination. Aiden?"

Laughter errupted from me. "I'll pass. Aiden's only a kid."

"Alright then, how about Shane?"

I thought about it. "Shane's nice, but he's more like a big brother to me. Not to mention he's gonna get with Mitchie eventually."

"And me?"

I thought for a second. "You're cool too, but you're like a big brother to me like Shane is."

"And now Nate," Jason concluded. "And don't say he's like a big brother to you too."

I smiled. "Don't worry, I won't, because he's not. I don't know why, but my relationship with Nate is a lot different from your's and Shane's. He's like my friendly-friend, not my brotherly-friend.... Is this all making sense?"

Jason blinked, trying to comprehend what I just said. "Um..."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Point is, Nate's my best friend, and nothing can change that."

"Not even all of those awkward moments you two have been having for the past couple days?" Jason asked with a laugh as I stood up.

I nodded. "We can end up in the most awkwardest situation and nothing can change my feelings for Nate."

As I continued walking, the door flew open, and Aiden ran in, his socks for some reason all wet, causing the floor to become wet. He almost crashed into me too. Shane ran in too, and started slipping on the water, carrying a bunch of bags.

I sighed out of relief, since he almost crashed into me, too. Just when I thought I was safe, Nate came running in at the same speed and crashed into me. Gosh why does this happen to me?

"Ugh," I groaned, my back on the hard floor. Then I regained feeling on my body, seeing Nate on me again, like all the other times we fell on eachother. Only this time, his face was in my chest, as in my upper part.

Jason was watching this all from the couch. His mouth hung open from the position we were in. "Whoa... This is way better than this morning."

Nate lifted his head and quickly rolled doff me. We sat up, avoiding eye contact yet again. He was rubbing his neck, and I had my hands scrunched up, covering my chest, still tyring to rid myself of that previous feeling. Nate's face, was on my chest, and with me being the 15-year old girl I was, I wasn't the same innocent, flat-chested little girl I was as a kid.

"Um," Shane started. "I'm gonna go put these in the room." He walked out of the room, definitely not wanting to stay for this.

"Well," Jason said, hopping over the couch. "You two alright?"

"Fine," Nate and I said at the same time, a little too quickly.

Jason nodded and swiftly made his way to the bedroom. Nate and I just sat there, obviously too nervous to even move. Gosh, I guess I didn't know what I was saying when I said awkward moments wouldn't do anything. HELP!


	7. Whimp

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

Ever since that incident, Nate and I were trying to forget about it, even to the extent Nate went to sleep in the living room last night, so we couldn't end up waking up in some weird position. My nights were sleepless since my problems filled my head.

"And now we barely talk," I concluded.

"Wow," Tess said surprised. "And I thought I had problems with our break up."

"You sure have some bad luck to always be caught up on those kinda situations," Caitlyn said.

I nodded. "I get that a lot."

"Maybe you should go talk to him," Tess advised. "Nate's a really great guy. He doesn't fall for girls just because of looks. And believe me, you've got a lot of look."

I laughed and blushed. "I'm not that special in looks. But if I try and talk with Nate, what if something weird happens and we end up in another awkward situation? That'll just complicate more things."

"You won't know until you try," Caitlyn said in a comforting voice. "You have to have some confidence in yourself, Dani. If what Shane told me was right, you happened to have a lot of positive attitude as a kid."

I rolled my eyes. "Well I'm obviously no kid anymore."

"Hey Dani," Mitchie said, walking by us. Then she did a double take and starred at me. "W-Weren't you wearing something else?"

I looked down at my clothes. "No. Why?"

She looked behind her and back at me. "Wow. For a minute I almost thought I saw you before. There was this girl in town who looks exactly like your twin."

Caitlyn laughed. "Probably just some look-alike."

I sighed. "With all the weirdness going on lately, I wouldn't be surprised if I _had_ some long lost twin."

"Don't count on it," Mitchie laughed, sitting beside us under the tree. "You three ready for the Festival tomorrow?"

"Yup," I lied. I memorized all my lines and actions, but I was still nervous.

--**NATE'S POV--**

"Guys, I don't know about this," I said, talking in the bedroom with my brothers.

"Oh come on, you're acting like a wimp right now," Aiden said bluntly, making me shoot him a glare.

"I've gotta agree with Frankie," Jason said too. "You've never been so nervous in your life."

I rolled my eyes. The guys suggested I ask Dani to the festival as my date, as friends. Either way it would be like a date, and that's what got me nervous. "Don't you guys think she'd stilll be upset about yesterday?"

Shane groaned. "You two keep worrying about what the other thinks just because of all those crazy mishaps. Get. over. it."

"You think it's easy? Try asking Mitchie to the festival."

Shane's face changed. "What?"

Jason laughed. "He got you, Shane."

I smirked. "I'll ask Dani if you ask Mitchie, unless you're the wimp here."

"You're the whimp!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You're whimpier!"

"You're whimpierer!"

"That's not even a word!"

"Only wimps use real words!"

"Quiet!" Jason shouted, pullling us apart before we would tackle eachother. "Shane, just ask Mitchie, and then Nate will ask Dani. Everyone happy?"

Aiden decided to join in this weird conversation. "If Nate doesn't ask Dani can I ask her to be my date?"

"No," all three of us answered.

Aiden shrugged, almost laughing. He was so enjoying this.

"Hey, they're home," Jason said, sitting back on the couch. "Shane?"

Shane pouted. "Fine!"

Aiden shook his head. "This oughta be good."

"We're back!" Mitchie shouted as the door opened.

Dani made a face. "Hey guys."

"Hey," Jason, Shane, and Aiden greeted, me still being quiet.

"So Mitchie," Shane started. "With the festival tomorrow, wanna go together? Like as friends?"

Mitchie grinned. "Sure. What's with the sudden asking though?"

Shane blushed, and I was enjoying every minute of it. "Uh..."

Dani looked up at Mitchie, who was trying to keep her cool, but she was just as nervous as Shane was on the inside. And I thought Dani and I were having problems.

"B-Because," Shane stuttered. "W-We won't be here for long, and I wanted to spend my time at the festival, with you!"

"... You didn't have to ask me though if you just wanted to spend time together."

Shane blushed from embarrassment. Aiden, Jason, and I were watching this as entertainment.

Mitchie smiled through. "But sure. I'd love to go with you." She kissed his cheek and head to the door. "Later Dani!"

When the door closed, I looked at Shane. He was still frozen from when Mitchie kissed him on the cheek. So much for not being nervous. But he still did it, now I have to take on my end of the bargain. "Hey Dani, can we talk? Outside?"

She nodded and we headed to the door, avoiding eye contact. When we got outside, it was sunset, and it gave off a peaceful feeling.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Dani asked, turning to me once I shut the door.

I brought my head up at her, looking her in the eye. "Um, first of all, I just want to say sorry, for all the things that happened lately. I know you're not that kinda girl so it was really, really, really wrong of me to do all that-"

Dani giggled and shook her head. "Nate, stop rambling. And you don't have to apologize. It wasn't you fault. If anything I should be apologizing. I have bad luck with these kinda things."

"Don't say that."

"Already did," Dani said in a victorious tone, making us laugh. "Anyway, lets just put all those embarrassing moments behind us. I mean, we're best friends. We shouldn't be thinking about that stuff too much."

I nodded in agreeement. "How right you are, Dani."

She gave me a look. "Nate, I know you didn't just bring me out here to apologize. Now that we're finally back on track, for now, mind telling me what's on your mind?"

I sighed. "Ok, would you... w-would you..."

"Would I...?"

I closed my eyes from frustration. "Do you wanna go to the festival with me tomorrow? A-As friends I mean."

She laughed a little, making me think it was a no and that I just made some pathetic attempt at trying to ask her out. Until she gave me her official answer. "Sure Nate. But I don't see why you had to stutter like that."

I blushed again, but smiled. We were about to hug, but then we remembered all of our previous accednets, so we just ended up shaking hands, not wanting to risk getting into another awkward position. But I still couldn't believe it, she said yes!

--**DANI'S POV--**

I was taking my morning shower. And don't worry, my door's locked. But I still couldn't believe that Nate asked me to the festival, even as a friend. We could have just gone together, but he actually took the time to _ask _me. Gosh, I feel like such a fangirl right now. I was never this much into boys, and now was a weird time to start. First Jason makes sense about that talk for my marriage, and then Nate asks me out as a friend. Things can no get any better.

I dried my hair and arrived in the bedroom, seeing Jason on the phone. "Really?... No kidding right? I mean, this sounds to weird to be... I know... Don't worry, I'm sure she's safe right now... I don't think Dani knows, I'm not sure about her mom though."

I stayed hidden. What was Jason talking about? And to who?

"I'll make sure Nate watches her. Dani's in good hands. Thanks. Bye."

"Who was that?" I asked, walking into the room.

Jason turned around, surprised I was there. "W-What?"

"What were you talking about?" I asked in a demanding tone.

Jason rubbed his fingers through his hair. "Nothing you should worry about, Dani. Just, be careful during the festival alright?"

I made a face, but nodded. "Still, you're hiding something from me."

"I'll tell you later. You don't even need to know, Dani. If I did tell you, you'd only panic more. And we all know we don't need any more of that."

"Hm, true." I looked down at my feet, trying to figure it out. "But you've got to tell me today, alright?"

He sighed. "Alright, just enjoy yourself today, OK?"

Jason tells me to enjoy myself and to be carefull. This must be bad news he heard over the phone.

--

"Wow, you look awesome, Caitlyn," Tess said as she fixed her hair.

Caitlyn twirled around in her kimono. "Maybe I should wear one of these during a music video or something. These are really cool."

"I know right?" Tess said, stading up from her chair. "Come on, Dani. Out of the bathroom."

"No," I said from inside. "It's bad enough I have to wear a fancier version of this in the play, but here? No way."

"Oh come on, you look fine," Caitlyn said, knocking on the door. "Besides, we did your hair and make up. How can you _not_ look pretty?"

"What's going on here?" the guys asked, waking into the bedroom.

"We're trying to get Dani out of the bathroom," Tess told. "She's too shy to show us how she looks in her kimono."

My eyes widened. "Oh gosh, please don't tell me the guys are here too."

"We're here!" Aiden shouted, making me slap my forehead.

"You see it here folks, Dani's too shy to come out of the bathroom," Shane said in an announcer voice.

"Ok Shane, what are you doing?" I asked from inside the bathroom.

"He's making another video," Jason replied. "And still is."

"Shoot," I said, knowing that all of youtube would notice my shyness.

"Just come out of there," Tess said again. "You're only making it worse for yourself."

I sighed. "Fine." I slowly opened the door and walked out, holding a Japanese fan in my hand, matching the colors of my kimono. Tess and Caitlyn smiled, admiring their work. I looked at the guys and saw their jaws drop. That was when I noticed they were wearing kimonos too. Except for them they're called Yukatas. And to think, Shan was still recoding.

Selena smiled. "Looks like the guys are enjoying the new you, Dani."

I blushed and looked down.

Shane came back into reality and faced himself towards the camera. "We'll resume this later folks. Look for part 2!" He pressed the stop button and faced back to us.

"So guys, how does Danielle look?" Tess asked.

"She looks pretty!" Aiden answered first.

"And you Nate?" Caitlyn asked, making all eyes go to him.

"Um, uh, s-she, well," Nate stammered again. "S-She looks nice."

I smiled a little from his nervousness.

Shane rolled his eyes. "What Nate means is that you look hot."

Jason and Nate whacked him in the head, making me and the girls giggle.

"So Shane, when's Mitchie gonna get here?" I asked.

Shane blushed. "I told her to meet me at the Dango Shop."

"Wow, Shean has a date too?" Caitlyn asked. "First Nate and Dani, now you."

I blushed, remembering Nate asked me yesterday. "Nate and I are only going as friends, ok?"

"Whatever you say..." Tess said.

All of us exited the house. Shane went off to meet Mitchie. Jason went off on his own. Tess and Caitlyn decided to take Aiden.

"Remember guys, the play's in an hour," Caitlyn reminded as they walked away.

"We know!" Nate and I said, waving them off.

"Well, we're finally alone," he said.

"Yup," I said, walking. There was that _stupid awkward scilence_ again. Well, guess it's up to me to try something. "So, uh, wanna go play some games at the booths, Nate?"

"Sure! I'd love to," Nate said, trying not to sound to surprised.

We smiled and walked around, going to the different booths, playing games and eating snacks. Little did we know we were being watched.

"Hey Nate," I said as he arrived by the tree. A little while ago, we decided to split up and go on our own then meet up here at the food shop.

"Hi Dani," Nate said.

I looked at his hand, seeing he was holding something. "What's that?"

He brought it up and opened his hand, revealing a beautiful pink cherry blossom hair clip. "I won it at one of the game booths. I thought you might like it since, well, I won't be needing it."

I laughed. "Thanks Nate. But you didn't have to do that, you know. You could have givin it to some other girl at the festival."

"Yeah, but I know how you like Japanese stuff and besides, this would look nice on you." Nate brushed a little bit of my hair to the side and used the clip to make it stay. "There."

I blushed as I felt his hands by my face. "How does it look?"

Nate smiled. "Nice."

I laughed. "Is that all you're gonna call me tonight?"

He blushed. "Uh, sorry."

I smiled and held his hand. "No problem. Come on, let's go eat."

--**NATE'S POV--  
**I was playing a few games and I won a hair clip for Dani.

"How does it look?" she asked, bringing her head up.

I smiled, suddenly seeing how beautiful she looked under this light. It was sunset now, and the light hit her just perfectly. Her colorful kimono made her look so unique. I noticed she was wearing a little make up and her hair was extra silky, probably because of Tess and Caitlyn. And the Japanese Fan in her hand completed the look. "Nice."

She laughed, her delicate hand still holding onto her fan. "Is that all you're gonna call me tonight?"

I blushed, remembering when I was asked how Dani looked when I first saw her in her kimono, I said nice. Then I said as an excuse that the clip would look nice of her. Then she asks me, and I say nice, again. "Uh, sorry," I apologized, blushing a little.

I felt the her fingers of her free hand intertwine with mine. "No problem. Come on, let's go eat."

We walked through the crowd and arrived in front of a small cotton candy booth.

"Hello, Danielle," said an old man, running the booth.

She smiled sweetly. "Hi, Somei. Two cotton candies, please."

The man nodded and strated preparing them. "Is this your date, Danielle?"

I blushed. "Um-"

"Yeah," Dani answered shyly.

I looked at her. I would have thought she would have said no and that we're only going as friends. Then I noticed a sign that said it was two dollars per cotton candy so I reached for my money, then Dani held down my hand.

"Don't. I knew that you being the guy you would try and pay with your own money. So I paid Somei yesterday so those are free."

I blinked at her in amazement. "Wow you're good."

She smiled and got her cotton candy, taking a piece and throwing it into her mouth. I got mine too and we started walking again.

"So, you enjoying yourself?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I usually go with Mitchie whenever I come here."

My head jumped. "Don't you have a date usually?"

She looked down. "No, I don't really get asked. You're kinda the first."

"Oh," I said. "I find it kinda hard to believe."

She gave me a look. "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

"N-No, it's a complement! B-Because you're, you know, a really nice girl and, uh, I don't know why no one wouldn't ask you."

She laughed, probably because I was stuttering again. "You called me nice again."

"Man."

She laughed and linked arms with me. I smiled, enjoying the wonderful moment. Hopefully it would last.


	8. The Play Pt1

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

**--DANI'S POV--**

"So, you ready for the play?" Nate asked.

I shurgged as we threw away our cotton candy sticks. "Dunno. I'm still nervous."

Nate gave me a look. "Still? Dani you've gotta get over it."

"Well it's me, weather you like it your not," I said, hitting him in the arm. "We didn't even practice with eachother."

Nate laughed, realising that. "That's true. But we'll do fine."

I rolled my eyes. "_You'll_ do fine. You're used to being on stage."

"Well look at the bright side."

"What's that?"

"The entire time, on our non-date, we haven't had one awkward and or strange moment with eachother."

I smiled. "Oh yeah, you're right. Guess my luck's changing now."

Suddenly, I tripped. Wow, no surprise there. So much for my luck changing. As I started falling, I felt Nate grab my wrist, only to have me pull him down. We landed on the ground, luckily not on eachother.

"Ow," I groaned.

"You alright?" Nate asked, laying right beside me.

I didn't respond, but only cracked a smile, then started laughing. And in no time, Nate started laughing too until we sat up.

"Why are we laughing?" Nate asked.

"I don't know," I said trying to catch my breath. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for pulling you down like that."

He smiled and helped me sit up straight. "Are you alright? That was a pretty nasty fall."

"Not as bad as the previous times we fell."

"True."

I smiled and looked at Nate. I noticed something red on his cheek. "Hey Nate, you've got a cut there," I said, taking my finger and poking at it, only to have some blood on it.

Nate touched it with his hand. "Oh, it's just a cut. Nothing to serious."

I pouted and looked back at the wound. "Nate, it's bleeding pretty fast."

"I'm fine, Dani."

I rolled my eyes. "Quit being a man. Now hold still." I placed my hand on it, trying to see if it really is as deep as it looks. Suddenly, I felt a weird tingling feeling go through my arm. I gasped and pulled my hand back, grasping at it.

"You alright?" Nate asked, looking at it.

I nodded. "Yeah, probably just some static shock or something-" I looked up, my eyes wide. "N-Nate, your cut's gone."

He felt his cheek. "It is?... Wow."

I looked back at my hand, flexing it open and closed. "B-But..."

Nate stood up. "We're probably tired. Let's go get something to drink and head over to where the play's gonna be held. It's almost time."

I rolled the sleeve of my kimono up an looked at my watch. "Oh, you're right. Come on let's get moving."

--

We arrived at the center of the town and saw some of the seats in front of a stage start to be filled in. We walked in backstage and saw a bunch of people preparing. We saw Shane there too.

"Dani! Nate! About time you came!" he yelled, running to us.

"Sorry, we were having a good time," I said with a pout.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Just come on. Mitchie's starting to panic since the two main characters aren't dressed yet."

I scoffed. "Oh come on, Shane- AHHHH!"

He threw me over his shoulder agian. "No way Dani!"

"SHANE PUT ME DOWN!"

"NOPE!" he yelled, running.

Nate sighed, shaking his head. "Here we go again."

--

The audience clapped as the lights dimmed down.

"Hey," Shane said, taking his seat.

"Where've you been?" Jason asked, stitting with Aiden.

"I had to drag Dani back stage," Shanee answered.

"Got the camera?" Aiden asked.

Shane took it out with a smirk. "Yup." He turned it on and turned it towards us. "Hey guys! Here's part 2 of our Summer Festival Adventure!" Shane shouted all hyper and excited.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we're here in the audience, recording the festival's play, live."

Aiden grinned, waving. "I bet they're gonna kiss-"

Jason covered his mouth. Shane laughed and saw the lights shine onto the stage. There Mtchie stood on a balcony. "There's my friend Mitchie. She's narrating."

"You mean girlfriend," Aiden fake coughed.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Not to self: delete that part before posting online." But knowing Shane, he'd forget.

"Hello!" Mitchie shouted over a microphone clipped onto her collar. "Welcome to our Summer Festival's annual 20th Tale Reenactment!"

The crowd cheered.

"And now," Mitchie continued, "this year's tale's gonna be about the Legend of the Priestess and the Prince. And be lucky that this year, we have Nate Gray, Tess Tyler, and Caitlyn Geller acting!"

The crowd came into cheers again, some clearly for Nate as signs went up from groups of girls. But it shouldn't be that surprsing, since all three of them are celebreties. The lights changed and the curtains rose. Silence came across the crowd as Mitchie began to narrate.

"Once upon a time, there was a young prince in the kingdom during the time of Feudal Japan. His name was Prince Noriko."

A young boy ran out on stage in costume. He was supposed to be the younger version of Nate's character.

"He once wandered out into the forest, to escape his royal duties in the palace. As he did, he came across a young girl."

A little girl walked peacefully onto the stage, in a beautiful kimono that would make you go awwww. She was just so cute. She's the youonger version of my character.

"Hello," the boy said. "What are you doing out here?"

The girl blushed sightly. "I live here with my mother, the village's priestess. I'm practicing on using my healing powers."

"Wow," the boy said amazed.

She smiled and bowed. "It's a pleasure meeting our village's prince."

He held his hands up. "Please, you don't have to bow. If anything, I should be bowing to you."

She stood back up. "Why may I ask? Priestesses are of lower rank than the nobles."

He smiled. "Well personally, I think that your kind is very gifted, to be able to heal the wounds of those hurt."

She smiled and bowed her head in respect. "Thank you, your highness."

He held out his hand, making the girl look up. "My name is Noriko."

The girl smiled and shook the prince's hand. "My name is Denami."

Mitchie smiled as the light focused on the two children, the long curtains closing. "Noriko and Denami continued being best friends throughout their childhood. Years later, the two have grown very fond of eachother."

The curtains rose, revealing a change of scene. It was in a palace, and two maids were working, them being Tess and Caitlyn. I smiled as Nate on stage, wearing his cotume. I blushed, since he really did look like a prince.

"Your highness," Tess greeted as he walked into their presence.

"Shouldn't you be at your headquarters working on your studies?" Caitlyn asked, setting down some towels on a table.

Nate shook his head. "Nope, heading out into the forest again."

Caitlyn sighed. "Prince Noriko, you know we won't be able to cover for you much longer. You can't keep sneaking off."

Nate shrugged his shoulders, almost to the door on the other side of the stage. "I've been doing this since I was a kid. No problem for me."

Tess smiled and went behind Caitlyn. "Stop worrying about the prince. That priestess in the woods really does seem to make Noriko happy."

Caitlyn sighed. "I suppose so. Just make sure there's no funny business, ya hear?"

Nate made a face. "Jeez, a prince makes friends with a girl and you assume we're in love."

Caitlyn smirked. "Considering you're sneaking away from your own palace just to _visit_ her, I'd say you are in love."

"Just keep quiet," Nate said, his arm pointing at his two maids. And with that, he walked off.

Tess shook her head, getting back to work. "That boy is like a rebel."

Caitlyn nodded, getting back to work. "Princes."

The curtains closed and reopened, to a new setting. It was pretty fast. I ran onto stage, sitting down and pretending to be asleep while sitting down cross-legged. The curtains rose again and I felt the light on everything. I felt Nate's footsteps come by.

"Uh, Denami?" Nate asked, taping my head.

I pretended to wake up as if a chours of screams came through bullhorns. "What?! I was meditating! I wasn't asleep!"

The crowd laughed as Nate chuckled a bit himself. "Just me."

I looked up at him in relief. "Whew, good. I thought you were my mom again."

He helped me up. "Making you practice again?"

I nodded. "She wants me to meditate so I can 'align my chakras' or whatever."

Nate smiled. "For a priestess, you aren't very peaceful."

I gave him a look. "Says the prince who snuck off."

"Why does everyone always say that?!" Nate asked no one, flailing his arms up in the air, making the audience laugh again.

"My apologies, your highness," I said sarcastically as I crossed my arms.

"Noriko," he corrected.

I held my hands up in my defence. "Sorry, sorry, jeez. You're not gonna have me sent to the guillotine, are you?"

"To my best friend? Noooo," Nate said, linking arms with me.

Mitchie smiled form the balcony, resuming her narrating. "Secretly, the priestess harbored deep feelings of love for her _best friend_."

I glared at Mitchie as Nate escorted me off stage. She still thought I liked Nate, my best friend. So she put a lot of emphasis on those two words _best friend_, just for me. I would have yelled back if we weren't doing any of this.


	9. The Play Pt2

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

The scene changed to night, with a huge Sakura Tree in the center, fake of course. The curtains rose and Nate and I walked onto the stage, holding hands.

"Noriko, you didn't hvae to come with me, you know," I said.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I just like being with you."

I sighed. "But if you're caught missing, don't blame me."

He laughed. Oh how that laugh has grown onto me. "I won't. Why are you here anyway?"

I walked up to the Sakura Tree, placing my hand on it. "One of the villagers requested I check up on his Sakura Tree. Even though hundreds of buds grow each year, none blossoms. He thought maybe a priestess might figure out the problem." I closed my eyes and pretended to concentrate my priestess powers or whatever I was supposed to do.

"Anything?" Nate asked, walking up to me.

My hand dropped from the bark of the tree. "There's a curse on this tree."

"Well can't you break it or something?" Nate asked, looking up at the tree's many buds.

I looked at him. "Just because I'm a priestess, doesn't mean I'm wonder woman. I can't break a curse so easily."

"You have any leads on what you need to do?"

I nodded. "Yeah, my mother told me about this kind of curse before. Two in love must share their first kiss together under the tree, and the curse will be lifted."

Mtchie narrated. "Unknown to Denami, the first thing that popped into Noriko's mind was kissing Denami right now. But he controlled himself."

"You alright?" I asked with a worried expression.

"Um, just fine," Nate said, being awkward.

I smiled. Nate really was a good actor, unless he wasn't acting and it was real. "Well, I guess I'll have to tell the poor man tomorrow about his tree. This is out of my boundary of knowledge. I'll be heading home."

"You need someone to walk you there?" Nate asked, running up to me.

I held my hand up to his face. "Don't bother. I may be a girl, Prince Noriko, but I know how to take care of myself."

He put my hand down. "It's not about your being a girl. It's about my being a guy and being a gentleman."

I made a face. "Noriko, we're best friends. And since you insist I don't need to act like a lady to you, you don't have to act like a gentleman to me."

"But-"

I placed my finger on his lips, trying not to blush myself for making that notion. "No, Noriko."

He sighed and I placed my arm back to my side. I began walking off stage until I heard him, right on cue. "Meet me here tomorrow?" I turned my head around to look at him. "This can be like our private hang out."

I smiled and nodded. "Sure, that'd be nice. Good night, Noriko." I walked into the sides backstage.

"Good night, Denami!" Nate called as the light dimmed down.

Mitchie narrated again. "Too bad the prince didn't know that that would be the last time he and Denami would be together in peace."

The scene changed back to the palace. The actors went to their places as us backstage prepared as well.

"Nice going," Tess said, tossing me a bottle of water.

I drank down more than half of it. I get real thirsty when I'm nervous. "Thanks. I don't know how you guys do this."

"You get used to it," Caitlyn said. "And it's easier when you actually know your fellow actors. And basically, every scene you're in has Nate so, could be worse."

My face scrunched up. "Wow you're right."

"Out of my way!" said a girl who pushed me aside. I was about to fall again until Caitlyn and Tess caught my arms.

"Thanks," I sighed out, glad I didn't had to hit the ground again for who knows how many times this week. "Who was that anyway?"

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, helping me stand up. "That, was this play's drama queen. Or princess if you want to be technical."

I looked onto the lit stage. "That's the person who's acting as my killer?"

Tess laughed. "I hate her too. She's so after Nate."

"You see that's the kinda girl we thought you were before we met you," Caitlyn said, glaring at the supposed she-witch. And with that the play resumed.

"She's my fiance?!" Nate shouted in surprise as the girl clung to him, a little more than intended in the script.

The man acting as the emperor nodded. "Yes. You two shall wed within the week's end, before sunset."

"THAT'S TOMORROW!" Nate retorted, trying to keep on his feet, since Hillary, the princess, was almost on his back.

"My decision is final," the emperor said. "You will be marrying."

Hillary squealed, stroking Nate's jaw with her manicured nail. "We are gonna have such a beautiful wedding, Nate- I mean Prince Noriko."

My face grew red as my hand strated to cursh my water bottle. "I hate her already."

"Yeah," Tess and Caitlyn agreed, glaring behind the curtains like I was.

--

"Woah," Aiden said from the audience. "She's crazy."

"So much for no more problems," Jason groaned.

Shane turned the camera towards himself. "Behold, the she-devil of this fairy tale."

--

The lights dimmed out and the curtains closed, preparing for the next scene. I was able to pry Nate out of Hillary's arms, using the darkness to my advantage.

"You alright?" I asked, catching my breath back stage.

"Just thank you for getting me away from her," Nate breathed out. "I think I'm just as nervous as you now."

I smiled. "Too bad, Caitlyn and Tess helped me with my nervousness."

He pouted. "Guess I'm the only one then."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "There. For good luck."

He blushed and I laughed some more at how surprised he looked. "Shut up, I don't believe in luck anyway," Nate said, making me roll my eyes. "Come on, our scene's on."

I ran on stage and the curtains rose just on time. I was sitting in front of the Sakura Tree, in a meditating position. Nate walked slowly, seeing me still. "Hey Denami? You asleep again?"

I didn't respond, and he flicked the side of my head, making me fall sideways, thus waking me up. "Ow," I moaned, rubbing my head. "Thanks a lot. I was actually meditating for once."

Nate laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Denami. It's just, I have something to tell you."

I sat back up as Nate sat down beside me. "Noriko, I can sense you're troubled by something. So I'm just gonna take a wild guess and say this is bad news."

He smiled a little and nodded. "I guess you can call it bad news. When I got home to the palace last night, my father told me I have an arranged marriage, with the neighboring village's princess."

I put on a saddened face, but on the inside, this reminded me of the day my mom told me I was engaged to one of the guys. I still had yet to make a decision. "And you're accepting?"

He shrugged. "I have no choice. I don't have a say in this."

I nodded, understandingly. "Well, so you're married to some woman you don't love. Big deal. So what? We can still be best friends right?" He didn't make a move, still starring into space. I smiled and layed my head on his shoulder. "Hey, if you can sneak out of the palace for ten years, then surely you can sneak out when you're ruling."

Nate smiled, sitting up straight. "Yeah, you're right."

I grinned. "There, that's the Noriko I know. "

"Yeah, and who knows. Maybe after I take rule as the emperor, maybe I can have you move into the palace. That way I won't have to sneak out."

I smiled and hugged him, making us fall into laughs. Then the light dimmed to the side of the stage where Hillary was, glaring. "Hmph, you won't be taking my fiance so easily, little goodie two shoes priestess."

The curtains closed and I was taken backstage with Nate. They changed the scene as quickly as possible like before, and I ran out. The curtains rose, me in a forest scenery. I was walking to the center of stage then stopped, like I was supposed to.

"I sense a disturbance in this forest," I said, looking around. "Poison mist." I began to cough, trying to cover my mouth with my long drooping kimono sleeve as the workers back stage filled the stage with a purple gas, which is by the way harmless, so don't worry.

I continued coughing. "I know my time is coming to and end." I coughed. "But I can't die yet. I still have to watch Noriko." I coughed again and fell to the ground dramatically, hearing gasps in the audience. The lights faded and I heard the curtains close. I quickly jumped up and ran backstage before any of the workers could run over me, preparing for the next scene.

"Nice," Tess said, high fiving me.

I laughed. "I just said a few lines, in which most of them involved coughing."

Caitlyn placed her arm around me. "Dani, when it comes to acting, everything's a big deal."

I rolled my eyes and went out on stage again. I layed myself on a bed, my hands folded over my stomach. Well, that's it, all I have left to do. I mean, I'm supposed to be dying here.

The curtains rose and the lights turned on, adding a beautiful yet sad atmostphere. Nate ran onto stage, Tess and Caitlyn watching closely looking sad.

"Poor Noriko," Tess said, wiping her eyes with her hankerchief. "I always imagined those two getting married."

Caitlyn uncrossed her arms and patted Selena's back. "Come on now. We have to be strong for his majesty. He's dealing with this harder than anyone...... Oh give me that!" she yelled, taking Selena's hankerchief and blowing her nose.

"Denami!" Nate yelled, running to my besdie and grasping one of my hands. "Denami, come on, wake up. The doctors said you weren't dead yet."

I opened my eyes slowly, coming into eye contact with Nate's. I would have blushed if the lights weren't in my eyes. "Y-Your highness."

He grasped my hand with both of his, atempting a small smile. "Denami, even in when you're resting you still call me that."

I coughed. "Noriko, you have to know something."

"What is it?" he asked, as if lying to himself since he knew I wasn't going to live.

"As a priestess... I know that my death is near..."

Tears started to fall out of Nate's eyes. "Denami, don't say that. You're going to live, alright? Stop thinking all those things."

I smiled and coughing again. "I'm afraid I'm not kidding this time, Noriko. I'm a goner."

"Please, you can't leave, epseicaly not now," Nate said, his voice cracking. At this point, I had no idea whether or not he was acting or really doing it.

I smiled. "While I was in the state of unconsiousness, I have placed once last spell... Once day, the both of us will be reincarnated, so we may have a second chance..."

Nate shook his head. "No, I don't want a second chance! I want you to stay here, with me..."

I smiled and placed my hand on his face. Again, I would have blushed if I could. I was starring directly into Nate's tear filled eyes, just as he was starring into mine. "Noriko... let fate take it's course. According to my prophecy of which I now announce... we shall meet again under the cursed Sakura Tree..."

Her took my hand with both of his and kissed it. "How can I know?"

I smiled. "Because I love you."

Even though we were both acting only, we both reacted differently on the inside once I said that line. I never really said I love you before except to my Mom. And to say it, even from a script, it was weird. But I had to remember I was still acting in front of a live audience, so I couldn't think about it now.

"Good bye Noriko..." I said as my eyes began to drift down.

"Denami!" Nate screamed as the lights began to dim down until darkness took over from the fall of the curtains. When it did, I hopped out of bed and Nate and I ran into eachother, trying to make out way backstage. Nate went one way and I went the other, none of us knowing that we were blushing when we bumped into eachother.

"Now _that _was talent!" Cailyn cheered as I made my way back backstage.

"Thanks," I said, catching my breath. "At least that was my last scene."

Tess smiled. "Still, you guys put a lot of emotion into that last scene, you and Nate."

I shot my head up. "Oh yeah, Nate." I remembered as tears fell down his face. He never cried, and this was only in acting, using his real tears.

Mitchie resumed her role as narrator. "Against Denami's wishes, Noriko's heart never found peace. Although it was proven that Princess Hillary caused the poison, Denami passed away. The prince, taking role as emperor, ordered for the lines of families of priestesses to be assigned arranged marriages to the eldest daughters. Why? Because deep within his heart, he still trusted Denami's words, and that they would be reunited under the cursed Sakura Tree, through an arranged marriage. No ones knows the outcome of this story, so Priestess Denami's prophecy still remains a legend."

The audience clapped and the curtains rose, letting all of us bow down together. The show's drama was over, but now resumes _my_ life drama. If only I knew what was about to happen now.


	10. A Clone

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

I walked out from inside the dressing room, back in my old kimono from the festival. I made it out of backstage and saw Tess, Caitlyn, and Nate signing some autographs for fans. I smiled and walked down the stairs, only to be tackled by Aiden.

"Awesome show, Dani!" Aidden cheered, clinging to my waist.

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "I'm just glad it's over with."

"Hey," Jason said walking over to us. "Nice show. You're really good at acting."

I blushed and grinned. "Thanks, Jason. What happened to Shane?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "He left to go back home and upload the video online."

I groaned. "Gosh I forgot he video taped the whole thing."

"He made a lot of comments in between too," Aiden spoke up, making me laugh.

"I'll kill him later then," I said, looking back up at Jason. "Now, what was that phone call this morning?"

"Shoot, I was hoping you would have forgotten by now."

I smirked. "It'll take a lot more than a show to make me forget something. Now tell me. I'm already in an arranged marriage. Can't get worse than that."

"Actually it kinda can," Jason sighed out.

"What are you guys talking about?" Aiden asked.

Before Aiden could understand I felt someone take my wrist and start running, dragging me.

"HEY!" I yelled, trying to get out of their grasp.

"Dani!" Jason and Aiden yelled, running after us.

I tried to stop but their grip was too strong. We began running faster until we made it to the roof of my house. How we got up here I'll never know.

"OW!" I yelled as I finally got free, falling on my butt. "What'd you do that for?!" I looked up and saw it was a girl in a trench coat with black sunglasses, her hair the same as mine. "Hey, you're the same girl I bumped into before.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Scary, she sounded exactly like me. "Who are you?" She took off her trench coat and glasses, throwing them to the wind. She looked exactly like me, like a twin. I blinked in confusement. "... I have an evil twin?"

She laughed, holding out a hand. "Both wrong. One, I'm not evil, second, we're not exactly twins."

I made a face, but grabbed her hand, standing up. She was my height too. Actually, now that I had a good look at her, her hair was a little bit more longer, like an inch or so. And it wasn't layered and messy like mine was.

"Who... are you?" I repeated.

"Danielle Collens," she replied, not the least bit of humor in her voice.

I was completly confused right now. But who wouldn't? "How-"

"HEY DANI!" Me and, uh, Danielle, screamed at the top of our lungs and fell off the roof, holding into eachother. And, you guessed it, we crashed onto the ground, which Shane watched from the door. At least he didn't have his camera. Shane ooked in all directions. "Where'd you two come from?"

I sat up and rubbed my head. "Why'd you call my name?"

He grinned. "I uploaded the show! And- Who's that?"

She sat up as well, probably just as annoyed as I was.

His eyes widened as he said in a dramatic voice, "You've got an evil twin..."

She rolled her eyes. "Ok what's with everyone calling me an evil twin?"

Shanee laughed. "Maybe because you looked exactly like Dani and because she's too nice to have an even nicer half?"

I smiled. "I'd hug you right now, but I want answers."

"Make that all of us," Aiden said.

We turned around and saw Jason, Nate, and Aiden. My mom and Diane came out from next door as well. I groaned and fell back on the ground. This better be one heck of an explanation.

--

"So mom, you know anything about this?" I asked, walking into the living room. "I have a feeling you know a lot more than Jason did on that phone call."

"Don't look at me," Mom said.

"Would someone just explain?" Nate interjected.

"Excuse me?" Danielle spoke up, making all of us look at her. "Actually, no one really knew of this, except Jason. I called him this morning."

"So you were the one talking to him?" I repeated.

KJason nodded. "Yeah."

"I told him I would be arrived at the Festival. Guess I should've told him I wasn't a bad guy," Danielle said with a nervous look on her face. "Basically, I've been living with dad all this time."

My mom's eyes widened. "You've been living with your father?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You see, you two divorced when I was three years old, remember. Dad used me in an experiment, to save me."

"Save you?" I asked. "How?"

"He knew about the arranged marriages in your mom's side of the family. He didn't want me to go through all that, so he cloned me. He made you through that." My eyes widened. Cloned? "When Mom moved out, she took you instead of me. Dad wanted to keep me, the original. And give Mom a copy, you."

I stood up. "Y-You mean..."

She closed her eyes and hung her head. "I only found out just recently, when I saw my face in that magazine. At first I thought I was going crazy, but then my dad told me after all the clues started to come together. Then I found out I had powers of the Priestess Denami."

"Wait so you got powers now?" Shane asked.

Danielle nodded. "Yeah. Don't you?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Denami had powers of healing. I don't have that."

"Maybe you did," Nate spoke up. "Remember earlier in the festival? My cut?"

I looked down. "Oh."

Danielle looked up. "I only came because I wanted to see you with my real eyes. I couldn't believe that my dad would so something so evil as to clone a human being, let alone his daughter. I ran away from home because of that."

I watched in worry as my mom hugged her, her original daughter. "Oh Dani... I can't believe it's really you after all these years..."

Tears started to well up in my eyes. She called her Dani, that was my nick name. I was a clone, and nothing beats the original. I shut my eyes before tears could start falling, and I ran to the bedroom, shutting the door.

"Dani!" Aiden yelled, but I ignored him.

I locked the door and fell onto my bed. I sobbed onto the pillow. I was living a lie. I'm a clone. Before I know it, I'm gonna be treated differently, I'm gonna be replaced. Now I knew why human cloning wasn't allowed. Even though a clone, I still have human feelings. And in the end, when the truth is found, the clone is the one in the end withering away, like killing an innocent soul.

"Why?" I sobbed into my pillow. No one was even coming after me to comfort me. But, I got my wish. I won't have to go through my arranged marriage, and now the real will be getting married. I wiped my tears and peeked into the living room. I saw Aiden sitting on Danielle's lap, like he usually does with me. My mom was hugging her from behind, and all of the guys were listening to her as she spoke. It was pure torture for me. I shut the door and turned around. I got the pink cherry blossom clip that Nate gave me and placed it on my pillow. I grabbed my extra shoes and sneaked out through the window. I need some time alone right now, or maybe forever.

--

While I was walking around, I saw Mitchie, Tess, and Caitlyn walking around through the night in their regular clothes. The festival was already over.

"Dani!" they shouted, running to me. Tess and Caitlyn tackled me in a hug and Mitchie just watched with a relieved smile on her face.

"We were so worried about you when Nate said you ran off from the play," Caitlyn said, breaking off from the hug.

I smiled. "Sorry, I was being kidnapped."

"We know," Mitchie said. "Shane just gave me a call, about the clone thing."

I nodded and looked down at my feet. "So you guys know already huh?"

They nodded sadly.

I sighed. "Well, she's still at my house. You can go greet the original Danielle Collens there. Everyone's already fond of her."

Mitchie saw the sad look in my eyes. "No, I think you need our attention more."

Tess placed an arm around me. "If you want, you can stay at mine and Caitlyn's place over night. We've got a guest bedroom."

I made a small smile on my face. "Thanks guys. You're great friends."

Mitchie waved goodnight and I followed Caitlyn and Tess to their place. They had a nice small Japanese condo similar to mine. We entered and I saw a bunch of their things around. But hey, they're stars.

"Here's you room," Tess said, sliding a door open.

"Thanks," I said, turning on the lights and seeing a single futon bed there.

"We're right across the hall if you're wondering," Caitlyn said, walking in.

I walked to the window in the bedroom, gazing out at the starry sky. "What's gonna happen to me?"

Tess walked towards me. "What do you mean?"

The moon reflected in my black eyes. "The real Danielle will be taking the arranged marriage for me. She's gonna be living in my house back home... She's gonna replace me."

Caitlyn placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Dani you're talking nonsense."

Tears started to roll silently down my face. "No I'm not. I'm just a copy, a worthless copy, a clone. Soon Shane, Jason, Aiden, and even Nate are gonna realize that and she's gonna replace me in their hearts. I'm just gonna be forgotten about."

Caitlyn wiped a few of my tears. "Come on, Dani. _You_ are the one the guys grew up with. _You_ are the one that they call original."

"Caitlyn's right," Tess piped in. "Because let's face it Dani. Even through you're a clone, you're the person that Connect 3 made all those memories with. Not even the original Danielle Collens can take that away from you."

"But, let's face it," Caitlyn laughed. "Even Connect 3 are guys. They're probably too stupid to realise it so soon."

That comment made the three of us laugh. And it really hot me to feel better. Maybe I should have more girl friends around home more often. But, I can only hope for the best to come out of this huge mess."

--**NATE'S POV--**

I was laying in bed right now. During the past hour we were getting Danielle's side of the story and how hard her life's been since she's always ignored by her dad. Why would he even clone her and keep her if he's just gonna ignore her anyway? I remember I walked into the room and not finding Dani here, only the hair clip that I gave her.

"Are you still asleep, Nate?" Aiden asked beside me.

"Yeah," I answered absent mindedly. Also, Danielle was givin the position of the arranged marriage, so _she'll_ be marrying one of us.

"You worried about Dani?" Jason asked, sitting up with Shane and Aiden.

I looked back at them. "Why should I be worried? She's next door with our moms."

Shane groaned. "Dani! The clone Dani! Our friend Dani! Can't you see the defence since we call the original by her full name?"

I looked at him since he snapped all of a sudden. But I already knew what he was talking about. "Yeah, I know."

"I haven't seen her all day," Jason admitted. "I think she snuck out while we were all talking with Danielle."

"Will she be coming back?" Aiden asked, looking at all of us.

We kept silent until Jason answered. "She's just fine wherever she is, Frankie. Dani's a strong person."

Aiden grinned through the dark. "Good. I mean Danielle's nice but I like _our_ Danielle's better. She lets us call her Dani and she's not afraid to sleep with a bunch of guys."

Shane laughed. "That's so true. Remember today when Danielle got mad at us for always calling her Dani?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah. And when Mom told her she was sleeping with us she immediately objected."

I looked down at my feet across the bed. "Yeah, I'm just trying to get over the fact that she's still a clone and that the original's right next door."

Aiden hugged me. "You know, even though Dani's a clone, she's still human to us. She's smart."

"She's hot," Shane added with a grin.

"And she's your best friend too," Jason finihsed off.

I looked up. For a 7-year old, Aiden's being way smarter than me right now. I was judging my best friend because she was born in a lab. "Guys, I am so stupid right now."

"Got that right," Shane agreed, making me glare.

Jason laughed. "Tomorrow we'll try and find her."

"But we're heading home tomorrow morning," I pointed out. "Her mom doesn't even care. All she cares about is the 'original Danielle'. She didn't even care when you told her Dani ran away."

Jason layed back down in bed. "Let's just hope for the best Nate. I'm sure Dani knows we'll be leaving for home tomorrow. She won't let us say goodbye that easily."

I nodded. "Alright." I layed back down and turned on my side. There I saw Dani's empty bed. And Shane was right, I did like the feeling of having Dani in my arms, her face buried in my chest, her delicate fingers coming into contact with my skin. And I missed her.


	11. The Curse Breaking Kiss

_Danielle Collens is the long time neighbor of the famous Connect 3. One regular morning, her Mom tells her she's engaged to either Jason, Shane, or Nate, and that she has two months to decide. Things get more complicated when Jason, Shane, and Aiden urge Danielle to pick Nate. How is this complicated? The two ALWAYS seem to end up in some kinda awkward accident, like an anime. Can she take control of this porblem before it gets out of hand?_

* * *

I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock. I sat up and heard the clock shut off from Caitlyn's and Tess's room. I got up and walked in.

"Morning, Dani," Tess greeted with a yawn.

I nodded. "Was that your alarm clock?"

"Yeah, nothing special," Caitlyn said, stretching her arms.

"So what time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

Tess bent down and picked up their alarm clock. "9:00. Why?"

My sleepy eyes cracked open. "OH SHOOT!"

"What happened?!" Caitlyn shouted since I kinda scared her.

My fingers ran through my hair. "Gosh I am so dumb! They left this morning at 6:00!"

Tess's eyes widened. "Please don't tell me you mean the Grays."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Then let's get dressed already!" Caitlyn shouted, throwing us all into a panic of getting ready for the morning.

I got on my jeans and shirt, not really caring about my hair since it pretty much stayed the same, messy and short. I slipped on my shoes and the three of us ran out. We ran through the village, to my house. When I got there, I saw the rooms empty. My head hung low. "They left."

"I'm sorry, Dani," Caitlyn said.

"Wanna go visit Mitchie?" Tess suggested.

I blinked my eyes hard to make sure no tears showed through. "Yeah, sure. Won't be going anywhere anyway."

We walked to Mitchie's shop, seeing her sitting at her table, playing with her Tarot Cards.

"Hey," the three of us chimed in.

Mitchie picked her head up. "Hey kiddies. What's up?"

"Dani needs some cheering up," Caitlyn told. "Got anything?"

Mitchie stacked up her tarot cards and put them aside for her crystal ball. "Come, Dani. Sit. Let's see what the future has for you."

I sighed. "Probably for me to grow old and alone and to die in early age."

Tess scoffed. "No need for the dramatacy."

I sat down on the chair across the table from Mitchie.

"So, anything in particular you would like to see?" Mitchie asked.

I shrugged. "I guess the outcome of the arranged marriage."

She used her hands to see into the crystal ball. Not that I wasn't into this magic psychic stuff, but I just didn't have the spirit in me right now.

"So, what do ya see?" Tess asked after a minute.

Mitchie opened her once closed eyes. "Well, I saw a wedding."

I slumped in my seat. "Oh man, so it's still a go. Who's in it?"

"From what I see, Nate's the groom."

I sighed. "Great, Danielle chose Nate as the husband for the arranged marriage."

Mitchie shrugged, laughing. "I don't know, but there was definitely a lot of smooching."

I pouted while Caitlyn and Tess glared.

"I'm not helping am I," Mitchie said as her laughter suddenly died down.

"Not one bit," Caitlyn said with a smile.

I stood up out of my seat. "Uh, I'm gonna go for a walk, alright guys? I think I need some time alone."

Mitchie nodded. "Alright, but come here after. You can move in with me if you want."

I nodded and went through the door. It was still morning, so I walked through the town, heading for the woods. Like in anime, those quiet mysterious woods always seemed to give you a feeling of serenity and tranquility. And that was just what I needed right now.

As I was walking, it began to rain. I didn't bother trying to keep myself dry, so my clothes and hair all got wet. I hugged my arms, feeling a little cold from it. Though, I continued walking. I didn't know it, but I was crying a little, the fresh rain mixing with my salt water tears. I made it to a cave in the forest and ran in. _Now I_ wanted to be dry and warm. I ran into the darkness and bumped into something. I screamed and fell back, fear slightly higher than usual since it was so dark.

"Who's there?!" I shouted, hoping it wasn't some wild animal or killer.

"Dani?" asked a familiar voice.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the darkness. "Nate?"

I felt arms wrap around me. "Dani, I am so glad you're ok."

Some of my tears continued falling unwillingly and onto Nate's warm shirt. I felt his strong abs and muscles around me, like when we were asleep. "So it is you."

Nate laughed and broke off the hug. "What are you doing out here? You're wet."

I pouted. "I came because I wanted to try and forget about you. And I'm wet because of the rain."

I knew Nate's expression changed, even though I cound't see it. "What? Why?"

I shook my head, my wet hair slapping across the sides of my face. "Forget it. Why are _you_ even here? I thought you guys would leave this morning."

"Yeah, I told the guys I would take a cab or something later. I decided I needed to find you."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, still hugging my arms. "Well you found me. Now goodbye."

I began stomping off deeper into the cave and I heard Nate's footsteps follow me. "Dani wait! It's dangerous in here!"

My walking turned into running. "Why do you care?! I'm not the real Danielle!"

One step later, I felt my foot fall through the ground, when in reality, there was no ground. I almost fell into the hole in front of me. I saw my life flash before my eyes, most of the memories involving Nate. I guess no matter how much I tried to block him out, he just kept coming back.

"Dani!" Nate called after me, starting to catch up.

More tears fell down my eyes, like twin waterfalls. I shut them and made that last step, purposly going into the hole. And, I didn't scream. I had no need too. I had no reason left to live. The real Danielle Collens can take my place now. I'd just be a nuisance.

As my foot that used to be standing on the ground fell onto the hole, something else grabbed onto me, and hold me in a hug.

I didn't make any movements, since I figured I would die from this fall anyway. Why Nate decided to jump in here with me, I'll never figure out. We were were falling head first, like a meteor from space, plumeting to earth.

"Why?" I whispered, my tears falling off my face as we gained speed in our fall.

"Because," Nate started, his grip tighter but gentle. "I still care about you, Dani."

My tear filled eyes shot open, still seeing nothing but darkness. Nate just said he still cared about me. And, it gave me some spark of hope.

I remebered that time at the festival, when I mysteriously healed Nate's cut. I started having long flashbacks in my head, they were so similar to the scenes in the play, but, these seemed so real, in setting and in people and in emotions. I saw visions of the real Priestess Denami and the real Prince Noriko. Surprisingly, they looked a lot like me and Nate, scary alike. Then a oh so familiar scene came through my head. I saw Denami in a bed and Noriko holding her hands, crying.

I shut my eyes an concentrated on that familiar feeling of being a priestess. I mentally grasped it and took advantage of it. I sensed the ground near us as our fatal landing. I used my abilities and slowed our fall. Gently, we landed on the surprisingly grassy floor, like a feather landing due to gravity.

"You alright?" Nate asked, his breath sending shivers down my spine.

"I guess," I answered, still feeling my wet clothes stick to my skin.

He let go off me and we sat up. There was an awkward silence again.

"Why did you have to stay?" I asked since it was so quiet.

"Like I said before Dani, I care about you," Nate answered truthfully.

I scoffed, turning my head. "Nate, I'm only a clone, a copy of the original. I'm not real."

I felt Nate's hand reach mine on the ground. "No you're not, Dani. To me you're one of the realest people I've ever known. You're true to yourself, you're clever, you're human on the inside. And nothing, not even the real Danielle Collens, can replace you in my head."

I looked towards him in surprise. I still couldn't see his face because of the darkness.

"You're my best friend, Dani. Nothing will ever change that," he concluded, rubbing the top of my hand with his thumb in circular motions. "And I know you'd feel the same way if I were in your shoes."

I cracked a small smile. "Actually, I wouldn't."

I could tell he was surprised, especially since his thumb stopped massaging my hand. "Why?" Because I feel so much more than just best friends.

I looked down, feeling blushes come again after a long while. "Actually Nate, there's something I think I should tell you. Um, you see, I don't know why but, I... kinda... " I sighed. This wasn't easy for me. "Nate, I've liked you. I don't know for how long, but I realize now that I do. I might even love you. I know this sounds crazy coming from me, but I..." I stopped there, closing my eyes and feeling my head drop. But then, I felt a tug on my hand and before I knew it, I was in another hug from Nate, me in between his legs.

"Nick?" I asked from shock.

I felt his lips form a smile. "I don't know about you, but I somehow feel like that prince from that play."

My eyes softed up. "How?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "While we were falling, I saw visions of the Prince and the Priestess, and not from the play... maybe that legend has some truth, with, you know, the priestess casting a spell so they'd be reincarnated?... Us...?"

I smiled at him. Before we knew it, we closed in on a kiss, my lips in his soft ones. I never knew how soft Nate's lips could be. Our short kiss quickly ended as quick as it happened. Even though it was dark, I could see his eyes, me already lost in them, just as he was lost in mine.

I laughed a bit, Nate forming a blush on his cheeks. "Um, well, compared to all those other awkward incidents, I guess this one really takes the cake," he said.

I smiled. "Well, since it can't get any more awkward than this, maybe we should stick with it."

He smiled and I felt him pull me into another kiss, his hands on both sides of my face. My hands went from his well built chest to the back of his head. I could feel his sweat on his neck and his hair, as curly as it was. He smiled into the kiss and licked the bottom of my lip, asking for entrance. Me, never really being an expert on kissing, knew Nate did this before. But, I put our awkwardness to the side and opened my mouth. His tongue went into mine, searching every inch of it. And likewise, I did the same with his, savoring the taste. For a real first kiss, it wasn't as awkward as I had always thought it would be. Actually, it was just great.

As we continued to kiss, the darkness around us started to disappear. Fire flies started flying around everywhere, lighting up the entire cave. And right in the center of the cave was a long time asleep Sakura Tree. The rain cleared and the sun shone in through the top of the cave, making the darkness completely disappear.

Nate and I parted, smiling. We noticed how much brighter it has gotten during our 'kiss'. The fire lies were floating around here and there. And guess what, we were sitting right in front of the Sakura Tree from the legend. We watched in awe as it's thousands of Sakuras opened up, blossoming. It was a true miracle that we had just witnessed.

"Well, I guess the curse is finnaly broken," I said, still smiling as I starred at the tree. "Two in love must share their first kiss together under the tree, and the curse will be lifted."

Nate nodded, smiling like me. "Now, the prince and his priestess are reunited."

I smiled at him as he reached for something in his pocket. He pulled out the cherry blossom hair clip that I left and placed it back in my hair. "There, looks-"

"Nice?" I asked, completing his sentence.

He gave me a look. "Since we're no longer awkward with eachother, I think I'm safe to say beautiful."

We laughed, as the cherry blossom petals strated to fly around from the mysterious wind that somehow entered this cave.

--

"DANI!" Shane squealed like a little girl, running to me and hugging me, spinning me around at his front door.

I laughed as he placed me back on my feet. "Good to see you again, Shane."

Jason came up behind me, placing his hand on top of my head. "Don't you dare run off like that again, you hear?"

I smiled and turned around, hugging Jason.

"Yay Dani's home!" Aiden cheered, sliding down the stair banister and landing on me, making us fall to the ground. I countered with a surprise tickle attack, throwing him onto the couch.

"How'd you get here anyway?" Shane asked, hugging me from behind.

"Hey, hands off my girlfriend," Nate said, walking into the house with my bags.

"Nate!" Aiden shouted, instantly sitting back up. "That is the last time we leave you alone in another town!" Nate laughed as his brothers hugged him.

"Again I ask, how'd you get here?" Shane repeated.

"Heyyy!" Mitchie, Tess, and Caitlyn shouted at the door, their three heads sticking in from the side.

"Mitchie!" Shane shouted, tacking her into a bush. Good thing Catilyn and Tess got out of the way.

"Mitchie was the only one with a car that would fit all of us," Nate explained for

"What's going on here?" asked a familiar voice, walking down the stairs.

I looked up and saw Danielle. The room got awkward as she walked up to me.

"So," she said, feeling the same way I was. "Uh, no hard feelings?" she asked, holding out her hand.

I looked at it and smiled, shaking it. "We're cool."

Shane sighed. "Finally some relief."

"Anyhow, I'm assuming you and Nate finally got together?"

I nodded with a grin. "Yup."

She smiled. "Good. Because you're picking him for the arranged marriage."

My eyes cracked wide open, as well as Nate's, Mitchie's, Tess's, and Caitlyn's.

Danielle chuckled. "I talked with Mom. She decided to keep us both, if you decided to come back home. And therefore, she's making the both of us go through the arranged marriage."

"Well I have no problem picking Nate," I said, seeing him smile. "But who will you be choosing?"

She smiled as Jason walked over, placing an arm around her.

My jaw dropped. "Ok what exactly did I miss?"

Shane laughed. "Jason says he likes Danielle, since she's more serious and less childish than the rest of us."

"Ah."

Aiden laughed. "Looks like Shane's the only one not getting married."

"Says you," Shane said.

Aiden grinned and gave a peace sign. "I'm 8. I got an excuse."

"Shoot," Shane said, making all of us laughed.

Mitchie covered Shanee's eyes from behind. "You know kid, we don't have to get married, but we can try and get started on something like a relationship."

Shanee smiled, though still blind from Mitchie's hands. "Just because you're older you still think you can call me kid."

She smirked. "Want me as a girlfriend or don't you?"

Shane laughed. "I can live with this."

Mitchie grinned and they kissed after Shane turned around.

I sighed as Nate came up beside me. "About time we got our final happy ending."

Henodded. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Denami."

I glared at him. "Call me that one more time-"

"Out of my way!" Nate yelled, pushing everyone aside as I chased him. Everyone started laughing and Nate ran from me. Things definitely weren't back to normal, they were better.

**_"There was once in the land of Feudal Era Japan, a priestess named Denami, a priestess. Durring her teen years, she had fallen in love with her village's prince, Noriko. Of course, the two were of different class. Noriko was of a high class,a prince. Denami was of lower class, a priestess. Although, this did not stop the two hearts from coming together. One day, Prince Noriko was set for an arranged marriage to a princess. Although gifted with beauty, the princess's heart was of greed. Jealous of the Noriko's and Denami's soon-to-blossom love, the princess poisoned the priestess. At her deathbed, she told Prince Noriko, that she was in love with him, and that one day in the future, they will be reunited in reincarnated lives. After the priestess's death, Prince Noriko's heart was shrouded in darkness and sorrow. He cursed arranged marriages, for it was the cause of his first and only love's death. Out of rage, the prince cursed the priestess's family to live under arranged marriages for the eldest daughters, for he trusted in Denami's words. One day, they would be reunited, reunited in an arranged marriage, the one thing that tore them away from eternal happiness..._**

**_Many Centuries later, the Priestess and the Prince were reborn in the modern world. One was a young courageous girl by the name of Dani Collens. The other was a boy of much musical talent, named Nate Gray. And by fate, they met and grew up together as childhood friends. And as Prince Noriko's rule told, every eldest daughter in the priestess's family would be set for an arranged marriage. Therefore, Dani was set for an arranged marriage to the Gray Family sons, having three to choose from. _****_After much tragety and good times, Dani chose Nate as her husband in the very end, right after their first kiss under the cursed Sakura Tree. And they lived, happily ever after..."_**


End file.
